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Time and the elements have had their toll on the foundation of Vermont's Colchester Reef Lighthouse since it was moved from the waters of Lake Champlain to the mainland in the early 1950s.
Built in 1871, the lighthouse was discontinued and abandoned in the 1930s and left to decay from the elements. It was finally saved in the early 1950s when Electra Havemeyer Webb, who founded the Shelburne Museum in 1947, purchased the structure and moved it to the mainland where it has been on display ever since.
The current rehabilitation required that the lighthouse be lifted four feet above the old foundation and then removal of the old foundation and installing a new foundation. Other projects included in the restoration include upgrading the first floor and installing a wheelchair ramp for full access to the structure's first floor.
The restoration was made possible in part from a bequest from the estate of Fred McCarthy, whose mother Myrtle Edna Button was born at the lighthouse.
To learn about visiting the
Colchester Reef Lighthouse
contact the:
Shelburne Museum
P.O. Box 10
Shelburne, VT 05482
Web Site - www.shelburnemuseum.org
E-Mail - info@shelburnemuseum.org
This story appeared in the
May 2009 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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