Toledo Harbor, Ohio
Harbour Lights #476

Marking the entrance of the Maumee River channel is the Toledo Harbor Light. First lit on May 23, 1904, the Toledo Harbor Light was built to replace the Turtle Island Light, sentry to the harbor since 1831. Toledo Harbor Light had to meet the demands of the increase in marine traffic as a result of dredging and expanding the Toledo Harbor.

Construction of this architecturally unique, Romanesque-style Light was begun in 1901 and took three years to complete. A concrete base set on a 20’ deep submarine crib filled with stone was sunk by the United States Army Corps of Engineers providing the foundation for a three story, 85’ high steel framed buff colored brick building .The metal roof is topped by a lantern room with helical barred windows. There is adequate living space for a Keeper and two assistants. A matching fog signal building is attached. Toledo Harbor Light was built at a cost of $165,000.

The original optic was a 3.5 Order Fresnel Lens from the Paris factory of Barbier and Bernard, consisting of a large bull’s eye of 180 degrees with a half cylinder of ruby glass and two smaller bull’s eyes of 60 degrees each. The lens was 72’ above normal water level.

The Toledo Harbor Light was automated in1965 by the United States Coast Guard with a solar cell powered light. A uniformed mannequin was placed in a window to prevent vandalism.

The Toledo Harbor Lighthouse Society was formed in 2003 as a nonprofit organization to document the history of the lighthouse, preserve the lighthouse and to provide public access.