Split Rock Lighthouse

The original cone-shaped, 30-foot tower of brick was not properly sited or high enough to properly serve mariners. It was originally built in 1838 by Peter Comstock. The rebuilt octagonal tower dates from 1867 and was made of blue limestone by the Clarks of Willsboro Point. It is of the “old design” light towers, with an adjacent keeper’s cottage that was rebuilt in 1899. The light was eventually replaced by an acetylene-powered beacon on an adjacent steel tower in 1928. That steel tower was itself discontinued on March 19, 2003, when the light was once more placed in the 1867 stone tower. There is an on-going effort to save the skeleton tower.