Lake Erie's 1871 lighthouse and the keeper's gray cat
129 Second Street, Fairport Harbor, OH 44077
Research updated May 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
Standard museum admission; verify current rates with the Fairport Harbor Historical Society.
Access
Limited Access
Historic lighthouse tower with a 69-step spiral staircase to the observation platform
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1871 · First lighthouse-marine museum in the United States (1945) · Original Lake Erie light station (1825) · Preserved 1871 tower and Fresnel lens collection
The Fairport Harbor Light was first completed in 1825 to mark the entrance to the Grand River from Lake Erie at the village of Fairport Harbor, Ohio. The original tower was rebuilt in 1871 and stands sixty feet high with a spiral staircase of sixty-nine steps leading to the observation platform. The light originally used a third-order Fresnel lens, which is preserved in the museum collection today.
In 1925, the tower's active light was discontinued and replaced by a combination light and foghorn station built on the west breakwater pier head, which remains the active aid to navigation. The original lighthouse and its keeper's dwelling were preserved by the Fairport Harbor Historical Society, which opened the museum in 1945 in what became the first lighthouse-marine museum in the United States. The society's collection covers Fairport Harbor and Great Lakes maritime history, including shipwrecks, the local fishing industry, and Lake Erie commercial trade.
The lighthouse is operated today as the Fairport Harbor Marine Museum and Lighthouse and is one of Lake County, Ohio's most-visited historic sites during the summer season.
Sources
The most familiar account associated with the Fairport Harbor Lighthouse concerns a gray cat said to remain in the keeper's dwelling. Local tradition holds that keeper Joseph Babcock gave a number of cats to his bedridden wife to keep her company during the lighthouse's active years. A former museum curator, Pam Brent, reported seeing the apparition of a gray cat while living in the dwelling, describing it as moving across the floor near the kitchen as if playing.
During the installation of air-conditioning equipment in the museum, museum trustees discovered the mummified remains of a gray cat inside a wall. The remains are now part of the museum's interpretive program and are believed by museum staff to be the same cat that Pam Brent described seeing. The story was featured on Animal Planet's program 'The Haunted,' which dramatized the discovery and the reported apparitions.
The lore is gentle, family-friendly, and now thoroughly integrated into the museum's interpretive presentation. Visitors should not expect investigation programming but will find the cat story featured in standard museum tours and exhibit panels.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Climb the 69-step spiral staircase to the observation platform of the 1871 lighthouse for views of Lake Erie. Tour the lighthouse keeper's dwelling, which houses one of the country's first lighthouse-marine museums, opened in 1945 by the Fairport Harbor Historical Society.
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