Thirty Mile Point Lighthouse

Golden Hill State Park is known for its beautiful views of Lake Ontario, wooded trails, and fantastic camping facilities. It’s located in Barker, New York—about an hour’s drive from one of the world’s most natural wonders: Niagara Falls. Golden Hill is also known for its own shining wonder--Thirty Mile Point Lighthouse, so named because it’s 30 miles from the mouth of the Niagara River.

Thirty Mile Point Lighthouse was built in 1875 of hand-carved stone. Unlike other lighthouses, this historic landmark “is some distance from any major port or city.” That’s because it “wasn’t actually built to guide mariners to a safe harbor,” but to warn them of a shallow sandbar that could sink their ships. At least four ships had previously met such disaster. One such historic shipwreck occurred in 1678 and involved French explorer LaSalle. 

Another shipwreck occurred on October 31, 1780 during a sudden and violent storm that caused the 80-foot schooner H.M.S. Ontario to founder off Thirty Mile Point. Built for the Revolutionary War, the Ontario was, at the time, the largest British warship on the Great Lakes. On that fateful night, the ship was sailing east from Fort Niagara to Oswego, NY. According to official records, there were 88 passengers on board, including 74 military personnel, 4 women, 5 children, 4 Native Americans, and 1 merchant. It’s believed that 30 American prisoners of war were also on board. There were no survivors. 

Despite this tragedy, nearly 100 years would pass before the lighthouse was built. Thirty Mile Point Lighthouse was constructed on two acres of land purchased in 1873 from local farmers, Austin and Mariah Hathaway. 

In the decades that passed, 13 different lighthouse keepers lived at the lighthouse residence. “The two-story, seven-room dwelling and attached seventy-foot-tall, square tower were built in a High Victorian Gothic style using natural faced limestone blocks.”  Among other duties, the keeper and his assistant were tasked with making sure that the light remained lit.

Over time, the once treacherous sandbar diminished. In 1958, the federal government decommissioned the lighthouse so it “no longer functions as a navigational aid.”  New York State acquired 378-acres of surrounding land and opened Golden Hill State Park in 1962. The lighthouse was commemorated on a postage stamp in 1995 for the series ‘Lighthouses of the Great Lakes.’

“Golden Hill State Park offers camping, fishing, boating, shoreline hiking, picnicking, nature walks and walking tours of the lighthouse site.” Visitors can even rent out the lighthouse’s three-bedroom cottage and get “just a small, but exciting glimpse into what life was like for a keeper along this isolated stretch of Lake Ontario.” 

Thirty Mile Point Lighthouse is listed on both the National Registry of Historic Places and the Historic American Buildings Survey.

Hope L. Russell, Ph.D.