Former Horseshoe Reef Light (Buffalo, New York)

 lighthouse, abandoned / shut down

Built in 1855 atop Middle Shoal and used to mark the entrance to the swift and shoal-filled Niagara River for vessels calling at the industrial Black Rock, Tonawanda and Niagara Falls waterfronts, the Horseshoe Reef Light was completed in 1856 and lit its fourth-order Fresnel lens for the first time on September 1, 1856.

Standing at a height fifty feet over the river, the light's signal was visible up to ten miles out in the lake and served as an important aid-to-navigation for the next forty years. Despite its presence, groundings and shipwrecks were still commonplace in the waters to the North of the light and the US Army Corps of Engineers was eventually tasked with the construction of a seawall and lock system along the Buffalo waterfront to provide shelter for Southbound and Northbound vessels, which was completed shortly after the turn of the century.

With its purpose largely eclipsed by this construction, the light was further superseded by the construction of the nearby Buffalo Water Intake Crib in 1907, which featured its own navigational beacon. In need of repairs and upgrades after years of harsh winters and ice damage and no longer serving its purpose, the Horseshoe Reef Light was ordered deactivated by the US Lighthouse Service in 1908 and was abandoned to the elements.

Today only the skeletal steel members of the lights frame remain, and it has become a haven for Cormorants.