In 1804, President Thomas Jefferson decreed that the seventy-mile stretch extending along the southern shore of Lake Ontario from Oak Orchard to Sodus Bay, would become an official port district, centered at the juncture of the Genesee River and the lake. Samuel Latta was appointed Customs Collector, and in his first year he managed collections of just $22.50 while incurring $24 in expenses. The port was destined to grow in importance, however, as the Genesee River became home to five boat building yards, three railroads, three grain elevators, a dry dock and numerous ferries. Just six miles to the south of the port and the village of Charlotte stood the city of Rochester, which, powered by three waterfalls, became a vital flour-milling center.

Ships entering the port were originally guided by either a torch on a large pilot tree or a lamp atop one of the region's early hotels. In 1821, the recently widowed Mehitabel Hincher was paid $400 for a four-acre plot to be used for lighthouse purposes. Ashbel Symons was awarded the lighthouse contract, which included a tower, a twenty by thirty-four foot, two-room keeper's cottage, and a well. The construction project was completed during a seven-month period in 1822, at a cost of $3,301.

Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse with original lantern and dwelling

The 40-foot tower was built of native sandstone and topped by an eight-sided iron lantern, containing 144 panes of glass and supported by 2 ½ foot square posts that extended six feet into the tower's stonework. A separate contract had been awarded for fitting the lighthouse with patent lamps and reflectors in the same manner Winslow Lewis had equipped other U.S. lighthouses.

There was quite a competition for the position of keeper, despite the paltry annual salary of $350. Giles Holden, a candidate whose resume included a stint as Assistant Customs Collector, enjoyed the strong backing of many influential citizens but was nevertheless passed over in favor of David Denman, an elderly veteran. When Denman died shortly into his term, Holden did in fact get the job and would raise some of his ten children at the lighthouse, before retiring and moving across the street twelve years later.

Even with the lighthouse, the sandbars at the marshy river entrance proved troublesome to ship traffic. To remedy this, a pair of 2,500-foot piers, spaced about 360 feet apart, was built at the river’s mouth in 1829. As land filled in around the piers, the entrance to the river essentially shifted northward, away from the lighthouse, and other lighting options for the port were considered.

An 1838 report to the Secretary of the Treasury made it clear that the Genesee station was not in ideal condition. The ten lamps were worn out, fourteen of the glass panes in the lantern were broken, and the lighthouse deck leaked. The report did praise the keeper and noted the supplies provided under contract were “without fault,” but concluded that the light could be decommissioned with the impending construction of a beacon on the west pier.

This 1838 wooden pierhead tower also employed Lewis' method of lighting via lamps and reflectors but was badly damaged by storms and was replaced in 1854. The second pier light used a sixth-order Fresnel lens, which lit up a 270° arc. The keeper of the still-active Charlotte Genesee Lighthouse was also responsible for the pier beacon, which could be reached in stormy weather by an elevated footbridge.

In 1853 the old Genesee Lighthouse received a new ten-sided iron lantern room and a fourth-order Fresnel lens. A cylindrical masonry wall was added inside the tower to support a new iron staircase that replaced the original wooden one. A local newspaper reporter thought the $2,000 spent on improvements was a great bargain, remarking that “with an occasional coat of paint or whitewash, it (the tower) can hardly need repairs for one or two hundred years to come.”

A new brick keeper’s dwelling was built adjacent to the old sandstone tower in 1863. This two-story residence with its eight rooms was a considerable upgrade from its predecessor. Though the Charlotte Genesee Lighthouse was still in good shape, its fourth-order Fresnel lens was removed in 1881 and placed in a cast-iron tower on the west pier. Three years later, the lantern room from the lighthouse was also removed and installed atop a wooden beacon newly erected on the western pier.

Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse without lantern room Photograph courtesy U.S.Coast Guard

After the removal of the lantern room, a simple wooden deck was placed across the tower’s top to cover the gaping hole, and the tower’s windows were filled in with cement. For years, the fate of the derelict lighthouse was uncertain. At one point it was suggested that the tower be torn down to provide more room for a local railroad, but students of Charlotte High School successfully countered this threat, and the tower managed to survive a century of idleness.

Keepers and Coast Guard personnel occupied the dwelling until 1982, when the Coast Guard offered to lease the lighthouse property to the Charlotte Community Association. The next year, the Charlotte Genesee Lighthouse Historical Society was formed to preserve the historic site. The society’s ambitious and immediate goal was to restore the tower and cap it with a replica lantern in time to welcome the tall ships coming to help celebrate Rochester's sesquicentennial in 1984. The concrete was chipped out of the tower windows, new sashes were installed, and Dan Laniak, head of the mechanical department at Edison Technical High School, accepted the society’s challenge to build a new lantern room. To complete the tower, a replica ventilator ball was cast in sections in the school's furnace, and a fourth-order Fresnel lens was obtained from the Ninth Coast Guard District. The day before the wooden lantern replica was to be installed, the society learned that the contractor’s crane operators were on strike. Graciously, an Army Reserve unit saved the day by volunteering their crane and men for the job. The restored tower was relit on June 18, 1984, in time for the sesquicentennial celebration.

In 1994, the Charlotte Genesee Lighthouse was officially deeded to Monroe County, who in turn leased the property to the historical society. In preparation for the lighthouse's 175th anniversary in 1997, the society initiated an adoption fund-raiser. Over 700 stones were adopted at $10 each, and doors, windows and even the lantern room itself went for higher amounts. Through this effort, the tower was repointed, new exhibits were established, and the first floor of the dwelling was decorated with period wallpaper. It might be too optimistic to say once again that the lighthouse won’t need any attention “for one or two hundred years to come,” but its future certainly looks bright thanks to the historical society.

In 2011, the fourth-order Fresnel lens that had been on loan to the Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse for twenty years, was taken back by the Coast Guard. The lens had served at the Lorain Lighthouse in Ohio, and will be placed on display in the new Ferry Terminal Building being constructed at Black River Landing in Ohio.

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References

1. “Restoration of the Charlotte Genesee Lighthouse,” Bill Davis, The Keeper’s Log, Summer 1986.
2. “Lighting the Port of Genesee,” Bill Davis, The Keeper’s Log, Fall 1997.
3. Annual Report of the Light House Board.