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Oneida Lake is the largest body of water entirely within the boundaries of New York State. Connecting to the Erie Canal on each end with islands in between, there are three identical light towers along the way of the 22-mile long stretch of lake, doing their duty since their construction circa 1917. They don't look out over Lake Ontario or the Atlantic Ocean; they don't have keeper's quarters; they are not open to the public for tours, and they don't have their own gift shops. But they have never ceased in their function of guiding the way. And today, each light tower is having a little renaissance of its own.
The following is an update on each of them: Verona Beach Light, Frenchman Island Light, and Brewerton Light.
The Verona Beach Light is located near the eastern end of Oneida Lake, next to Sylvan Beach. In fact the light is often referred to as the Sylvan Beach Light. Sylvan Beach features a more than 100-year-old amusement park, reminiscent of a mini-version of Coney Island. (See January 2003 Lighthouse Digest, Verona Beach Light Restoration.) The Verona Beach Lighthouse Association has been slowly and steadily working to give the light a much-needed facelift and to raise awareness of the light's existence.
Accomplishments to date include landscaping, paved parking lot, new door, granite benches and sidewalk, and new street signage. The group also has a trailer for parades, mobile displays, and offers merchandise sales at various events, all to raise awareness and funds for the lighthouse.
This year, they're putting the finishing touches on a kiosk at the lighthouse. In addition, the New York State Canal Corporation, which owns and maintains all three lake lights, is replacing the windows this summer [2009]. They're also repairing the tower exterior. Chunks have been falling off, some the size of fists.
As far as access is concerned, Verona Beach Lighthouse Association Secretary Sandie Mattner says they will occasionally let a Girl Scout troop take a peek inside the base. It was used a few times during weddings held at the lighthouse, for the bride to come out of the door of the base. "There is still etching on the walls [inside the base of the tower] from when they used to change [out equipment]; they would just etch it on the wall." Obviously, this is much different than the log books kept by keepers of the United States Lighthouse Service. That is something she says they want to save and display. "Eventually, we would like to have an information booth in the lighthouse. It is one of our goals," she says," to eventually have it open up to schools functions, senior groups, and tours."
But Mattner says all that will be on down the road awhile; the group first needs to discuss it all in detail with the NYS Canal Corp. However, there will never be public access to the top of the tower. It is a series of ladders, about 80 feet straight up, with little room for mistakes.
The current project, in cooperation with the state canal system, is the beacon apparatus itself. "That is our next goal, is to try to upgrade the light, because right now the span only goes out to [their nearby end of] the canal, and we want it to span out further on the lake," says the secretary. Reportedly, there have been problems for boaters at night with the rocks that have been built up along the shoreline in the area where the lake meets the canal on the eastern end - not to mention fog and other inclement weather. Secretary Mattner says, "That is why we are pushing to get an upgraded light. Hopefully, in the next year [2010] we will accomplish that."
The Frenchman Island Light is located on Frenchman Island, which strains to be about a half-mile long on Oneida Lake. Rob Hiltbrand, regional director for the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation, says that up until recently, the island itself had been closed to the public for quite a number of years, "There was a lot of vandalism out there and it was not a real safe place for the public to access," he says. "It was a difficult place for us to get to, to do any type of maintenance and cleanup."
In 2007, Hiltbrand went out to the island with a member of the Oneida Lake Association to see if it could be opened up to the public again. Hiltbrand says, "We arranged a trip to get out on the island and have a look at it, and it really is a beautiful place. It is quite a unique little island out there in the lake and the lighthouse really is an attraction. So we decided we had some work to do out there to make it safe. Basically it was some tree work on our part, a little bit of garbage cleanup. The Canal Corp., which is responsible for the dock and the lighthouse, agreed to get out there and make some repairs on the dock because it was in pretty poor condition."
The New York State Canal Corporation did their part and resurfaced the dock. And the NYS Parks Dept. did theirs, with tree and trash cleanup and the clearing of some brush along the path to get down to the lighthouse, and the area was opened to the public. "What we found really was the signs that said 'Closed To The Public' were just keeping out the honest people. There was still some activity on the island," says Rob Hiltbrand. You could tell by the trash, remnants of illegal campfires, and the graffiti found on the lighthouse. Hiltbrand says that the park manager out at Verona Beach, as well as the members of the Oneida Lake Association, will keep an eye out to see if any issues arise in the future.
"What was also found is that since we opened it back up to the public [in 2008], is that the people who stayed off it for quite some time are excited about the opportunity to be able to access the island, and they go out there and they keep it picked up for us," says Hiltbrand, "They want to be stewards of the island, and that is helping us out a lot. It is better than it was before because now people are going to the island, using the island. It's not a place people stay away from anymore."
There is a trail around the perimeter of the island and to the lighthouse, and a couple of trails up and over the middle. In a past life Frenchman Island was a mini-resort of sorts, but there are no plans for new construction or any tables or amenities. There will be nothing that could be subject to vandalism; just some interpretive signage is in the works.
Speaking of vandalism, Erin Agans of the NYS Canal Corp. says they are also dealing with the windows in the Frenchman Island Lighthouse, in addition to other repairs. They planned to clean up the graffiti on the light this summer [2009]. According to Agans, the NYS Canal Corp. would be open to working with a group to help restore and maintain the light, similar to what is taking place with the Verona Beach Lighthouse.
The Brewerton Light is located just beyond the western edge of Oneida Lake, just north of Syracuse and just west of Interstate 81. For years, the Town of Brewerton wanted to develop the area around the light. (See June 2004 Lighthouse Digest, Lighthouse Park Planned.) Now the plan has become real. Recently the owner of the property that the light sat on was looking to sell quickly. The town was in a position to act just as fast. According to Brewerton Supervisor Jim Weatherup, "…They were looking to sell the property, so the town board at the time had the foresight to see that this was an affordable piece, even though we didn't have a lot of money. We're a small rural town, but they went ahead and purchased that property, with the intent of eventually building a park centered around the lighthouse."
The town had received grants for the project that finally made it possible. "We're very fortunate that we've been able to get the grants," says Weatherup. He adds that there was not much additional cost to the local taxpayer. "Our plan is ongoing, as money becomes available," he says. "It's kind of a living plan, I guess you'd call it. We're going to see what the future brings." He says that town officials are happy they have already been able to construct some things there: a parking lot, walkway, brick pavers, lighting, and a kiosk for information on the lighthouse. In the future, they might be able to add some docking and improve picnic facilities. He adds, "At this point we're just happy to get the parking in and have access to the river for fishing…"
Weatherup says you can see the entire lighthouse now, and you are able to walk right up to and around it. There was no access to it before, when the property was private. "It's kind of funny," says Weatherup, "even my own kids - and we've lived here all our lives - and my wife didn't even know there was a lighthouse there. Now everybody can finally see it. You know, maybe we can bring back a little history to the area." The town was planning to have the base painted this year [2009] also, in the hope that the NYS Canal Corp. will replace the door in the base, too, like they did for the Verona Beach Light.
It's nice to see a region that was already dealing with a tight economy before the current recession, that has the forethought to carry out projects such as these. It just shows that the private and public sectors can work together in tough times!
This story appeared in the
September 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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