An article in the Sackets Harbor Gazette announced the activation of the light and provided the following description of the tower.

The base of the building is four feet above the surface of the water, and is 26 feet in diameter, uniformly graduated to one half of its diameter at the summit height of 65 feet. The building is of stone. The lantern is an octagon, containing 21 lights of 14 by 12 glass. Within are 15 patent lamps with reflectors, 2 feet apart, placed in two circles; giving an elevation to the light of 66 feet above the water's surface, and at the distance of 5 miles, gives the appearance of an entire globe of light. The light is distinctly visible at a distance of 22 miles on the lake.

The article noted that “the erection of such works of permanent utility bear honorable testimony of the attention of government to the interests of every portion of the union” and called for an end to the violation of revenue laws – “the turpitude of which is greatly enhanced by the consideration that it robs the government of the means by which such establishments as tend in an eminent degree to the safe navigation of the lake, are erected and supported.”

Galloo Island Lighthouse with dwellings

Naval Lieutenant C. T. Platt visited the Galloo Island Lighthouse in 1838 and reported that the light was in good condition. The lantern deck, however, was extremely leaky, and the tower needed a covering of Roman cement. The shore of the island was then over 300 feet farther inland than it was in 1820, due mostly to a three-foot rise in the lake level. Work on a cribwork to shield the dwelling from lake surge had begun, but, according to Platt, it needed to be extended thirty feet southeast to provide adequate protection. The dwelling was judged to be much out of repair. Its roof leaked, and the settling of its foundation had deranged the window frames.

In 1857, a fourth-order Fresnel lens was installed in the tower, which by 1864 was noted by the Lighthouse Board to be in need of “various and extensive repairs and renovations.” The Board submitted an estimate of the necessary work, and on April 7th, 1866, Congress responded with an appropriation of $15,000.

Work on a new tower and dwelling began late in 1866 and was completed the following year. Gray limestone, quarried on the island, was used to build the new structures, which were linked by a covered passageway. The head keeper moved into the new residence, while the old dwelling was retained for the assistant keeper.

In 1890, the Lighthouse Board, noting that fog and thick weather often obscured the light, recommended that a steam fog signal be established at the station. The recommendation had to be repeated the following five years before Congress finally allotted $5,700 in 1896. A redbrick fog signal building was built near the shore in 1897, and two ten-inch whistles regulated by a Crosby automatic apparatus in duplicate were installed. A few years later, a circular reservoir, sixteen feet in diameter and twelve feet deep, was built near the fog signal to provide water for the boilers. In 1899, the assistant keeper’s dwelling was rebuilt and earthen sewer pipes were laid for both dwellings.

W.E. Frazier, one of two keepers stationed on Galloo Island in 1915, gave the following report upon leaving the island for the winter. “The government allows us 30 cents a day for provisions, but we farm it and make money. There is no chance to spend anything while we are on duty, either. We have a community system and the thirty acres are split up among the four families. This year we had two and two-thirds acres planted to corn and raised 340 bushels, which we divided. There are two cows, three horses, pigs, chickens, and other animals. I just sent back to one of the women on the island a check for $90 for turkeys which I sold for her when I left. We also raise a large quantity of hay, and sell what isn’t needed to feed the stock.”

Galloo Island Lighthouse Photograph courtesy U.S. Coast Guard

Warren Leifer joined the Coast Guard shortly after the end of World War II. His first assignment was to Rochester, where he met his wife Doris, and then, after training at the Aids to Navigation School in Groton, CT, the couple was sent to Galloo Island Lighthouse in 1948. The station operated during the shipping season, which ran from mid-April to mid-December. The Leifer’s residence, the assistant keeper’s dwelling that has since been torn down, had to be kept clean in case of inspections. Doris recalls riding around on her husband’s shoulders to remove any unsightly cobwebs dangling from the dwelling’s high ceilings.

While the Leifers were at the station, the light was powered by two old Kohler generators, located in the fog signal building. Late one foggy night, Warren noticed the light kept growing dimmer, so he hurried down to the generators, not bothering to take the time to get dressed. After spending the rest of the night changing spark plugs and tinkering with the finicky generators in the nude, Warren headed back to the dwellings and discovered another keeper’s wife, a proper Southern girl, looking out a window at him. These nocturnal service runs must have been common, as Doris recalls, “I always told him you’re gonna get caught, you’re gonna get caught and sure ‘nuff” he did. The Southern wife never said a word about the incident.

An automatic lighting system, controlled from an onshore station, was installed in the tower in August of 1973, and the Coast Guard stopped manning the station, despite protests from boaters. The lighthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, and in 1997 the Coast Guard, who didn’t want to spend the money to maintain the aging buildings, declared the station surplus. Robert Hagemann, Jefferson County Administrator, asked his staff and Jefferson Community College President John W. Deans to put on their "creative thinking caps" to come up with usage ideas for the historic site, but no workable plan for public ownership could be devised.

Galloo Island Lighthouse from shoreline in 2008 Photograph courtesy Mike Franklin

With no governmental agencies interested in the lighthouse, the General Services Administration Office of Property Disposal put the property on the auction block. The brick fog signal building and cast iron oil house were not included in the auction, as they are part of an adjacent 25-acre parcel, owned by the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The four bids submitted for the lighthouse were opened on September 27, 2000, and the winner was Cara C. Divnah of Vallejo, California, with a bid of $87,654. Philip J. Kemper, who the previous year had made a successful $2.47 million bid for most of the rest of Galloo Island on behalf of PRK Holdings Group of Syracuse, came in third, with a bid of $55,000.

Mrs. Divnah and her husband are investors familiar with buying and re-selling unusual pieces of property and bought the lighthouse "sight unseen." Just over two months later, the couple put the lighthouse on the market for $395,000, more than four times their purchase price. The lighthouse, which still houses a light maintained by the Coast Guard, failed to sell and has been on and off the market since then. In 2007, the Galloo Island Lighthouse, featured on a dedicated website, was back up for sale for $295,000. The larger privately held parcel on Galloo Island was also on the market in 2007, for an asking price of $12,750,000. The property, which includes an airstrip, seven bedroom lodge, guest house, and log home, had recently been available for seasonal rentals at a weekly rate of $19,500.

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References

1. Annual Report of the Lighthouse Board, various years.
2. “Coast Guard will sell Galloo Isle Lighthouse, deal won’t affect operation of light itself,” Christoper Taylor, Watertown Daily Times, February 8, 1997.
3. “Galloo Island Lighthouse sold to California bidder,” Brian Kelly, Watertown Daily Times, September 28, 2000.
4. “Galloo Lighthouse owner seeks to sell for $395,000,” Brian Kelly, Watertown Daily Times, December 9, 2000.
5. “Galloo Island Revisited,” Bill Edwards, Lighthouse Digest, January 2004.