In 1834, and acre and a half of land near the site of the fort was sold by the Nathan Ford Family to the Federal Government, and later that year the first Ogdensburg Lighthouse, a dwelling with a lantern room containing ten lamps and reflectors arranged in a circular fashion, was constructed thereon. That structure was partially destroyed by fire many years later. On July 15, 1870, Congress appropriated $13,000 for the “renovation and repair” of the station, and the following month work commenced on a new lighthouse. The design used was the same as that followed the previous year for the Stony Point Lighthouse near Henderson, New York, except that the tower at Ogdensburg would rise to a height of thirty-nine feet, eight inches – six feet, eight inches taller than the Stony Point tower. The dwelling and attached tower were build of square-cut, rough-faced limestone obtained from the Kingston quarries. This same material was used to build the nearby Sisters Island Lighthouse as well as the Big Sodus Bay Lighthouse.

The windows in the Ogdensburg Lighthouse are decorated with limestone lentils and sills, and the exterior door that opens into the tower is surrounded by a lentil inscribed with 1870, the year of construction. Two gabled dormers were later added on each side of the dwelling’s sloping roof, but these have since been combined to form one larger dormer on each side. In 1890, a wooden extension and porch were added to the rear of the dwelling. Around 1900, the height of the tower was increased to sixty-five feet by the addition of brickwork between the original limestone tower and lantern room. This brick extension, with arches and corbelled brick detailing below the lantern, was nearly identical to that added at Stony Point in 1901. The brickwork has since been covered by a concrete-like facing. With additions made in different decades, the Ogdensburg Lighthouse ended up as mixed breed architecturally, having an Italianate tower and a Queen Anne influenced dwelling.


In 1913 Keeper Samuel A. Penfield, one of the oldest keepers on the Great Lakes tendered his resignation after serving for twenty-five years at Ogdensburg Lighthouse. Other keepers of the lighthouse include James Gunn, who was present when electric lights were installed at the station in the 1920’s and Harold Cook, who served until the light was decommissioned in 1942. (Mr. Cook’s son comes to Ogdensburg every summer to visit with the Roethel family.) After World War II, veteran Richard Montroy and his family lived in the lighthouse when there was an acute shortage in the area. Later, members of the Arthur Piercy family called the lighthouse home, reportedly paying $7 a month for the privilege.

In 1964, Thomas G. and Laurel Roethel, residents of Ogdensburg were notified by the General Services Administration that their bid for the lighthouse had been accepted after the city declined the opportunity to purchase the property. At the time of the transfer, tall weeds covered the lot, but the Roethel’s assured a local reporter, “this won’t be for long.” The family set about rehabilitating the lighthouse and planned to use it as a summer home. Tom and Laurel Roethel always believed that keeping history alive was a very important part of the city’s heritage and worked very hard to keep preservation and restoration of historic buildings a priority. It was Mr. Roethel’s dream to someday to restore the structure and re-light the light in the tower as a private aid to navigation.


Mr. and Mrs. Roethel spent over two decades restoring the building. They drilled a new well upgraded the septic system, obtained electricity and telephone service which was not available to them when they purchased the property and brought in tons of fill to protect the stone wall which was in danger of topple from the pounding waters of the St. Lawrence. The lighthouse still utilizes the well and septic as those utilities are not available to that part of the city

Upon Mr. Roethel’s death on New Year’s Eve, 1987, Mrs. Roethel decided that it would be better if her son, Blair, and his family could live in the lighthouse and use it as their year-round residence. For the last 24 years, the keeper’s quarters and the lighthouse grounds have been occupied and maintained by Blair Roethel and his sons.

The Roethel family, in an effort to make Mr. Roethel’s dream come true; have succeeded in obtaining the authority to re-light the light in the tower. It is their hope that this effort will be a cornerstone in building a better understanding of local history and support for its preservation while also encouraging the development of the tourist industry in Ogdensburg. The lighthouse has been an important landmark in this City for over 175 years. The last 50 of those years, the tower has been in darkness. It is time that the darkness end and the light is lit to shine for all to see.