Historic Lake Erie lighthouse in danger from years of neglect

Jennifer Feehan -

Calling the lighthouse on Turtle Island "endangered" might be a bit of an understatement.

Discontinued as a working lighthouse more than a century ago, the brick tower is still standing. But it's been deteriorating almost as badly as the tiny Lake Erie island where it was built in 1866.

Its many years of neglect have again landed it a spot on the annual Doomsday list of endangered U.S. lighthouses compiled by Lighthouse Digest magazine. Tim Harrison, editor and publisher, said the Turtle Island lighthouse has made the list every year since it was first published in 1993.

"The Doomsday list is all of the lighthouses in the country that we believe are in imminent danger of being lost forever," Mr. Harrison said. "There are a lot of other lighthouses that are in bad shape but not in imminent danger."

The Turtle Island lighthouse is one of 35 on this year's list, which was published in the magazine's January/February issue. Mr. Harrison said he expects it will remain on the list as long as it's standing.

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