The Juniper Island Light on

Juniper Island Juniper Island is one of the largest islands located on Lower Stony Lake, a lake situated in Ontario. It is home to private cottages, the Stony Lake Yacht Club and Juniper Island Store. The Stony Lake Yacht Club is governed by its Board of Di ...

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

is the oldest light station on

Lake Champlain Lake Champlain ( ; french: Lac Champlain) is a natural freshwater lake in North America. It mostly lies between the US states of New York and Vermont, but also extends north into the Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. The New York portion of t ...

and the oldest surviving cast iron lighthouse in the United States.

History

A light station was established on the island in 1826, displacing a private beacon consisting of a lantern on a post. The tower constructed was of brick, 30 feet tall, and lit with the lamp and reflector system typical of the period. The light was intended to indicate to ships the proximity of Burlington's harbor. This tower was reported to be in disrepair by 1838. A new tower, also tall, was constructed in 1846. This tower was constructed of four rings of cast iron, attached to a brick keeper's house through a passageway. This tower originally retained the old light's beacon, but was upgraded with a fourth-order

Fresnel lens A Fresnel lens ( ; ; or ) is a type of composite compact lens developed by the French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel (1788–1827) for use in lighthouses. It has been called "the invention that saved a million ships." The design allows the c ...

in 1853. Early in the next century, the island was used as a storage depot for fuel, buoys, and other items. The light was deactivated in 1954 in favor of a steel tower placed closer to the water, and the island as a whole was sold at auction to state senator Fred Fayette. Unfortunately the keeper's house was severely damaged by fire in 1962, though the tower and a separate shed for a fog bell were undamaged. Fayette's family inherited the property, and in 2001 they reconstructed the house using bricks from the remains of its predecessor. Two years later a new, taller tower replaced that of 1954. The family plans to restore the old tower, but it is unlikely to be relit (as has been done with other lights on the lake) since trees on the island obscure it from the water.

History

References

Further reading