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Photograph of Buffalo Harbor South Entrance Light
Photograph by Karmen Bisher, Public domain. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Buffalo Harbor South Entrance Light

Built in 1903. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. 11 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1894.

From the record

“Buffalo Harbor South Entrance Light, also known as the South Buffalo Southside Light or Buffalo South Breakwater, South Entrance Light Station, is a lighthouse at Stony Point at the entrance to Buffalo Harbor, Buffalo, New York. It was established in 1903 and deactivated in 1993.”

Wikipedia article Buffalo Harbor South Entrance Light, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 283 National Register listings published here for Erie County · listed in 2007 · category: Structure · built in 1903.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 2 buildingss, 1 structure as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. Stony Pt. end of Buffalo Harbor S breakwater, Lackawanna, 14218
  • When was it listed? November 2007
  • Category. structure
  • City. Buffalo city
  • When was it built? 1903
  • National Register reference number. 07001191 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Then and now

1894 to 1960

The ground this property stands on, surveyed 66 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet covering Buffalo Harbor South Entrance Light, surveyed 1960
Topographic sheet covering Buffalo Harbor South Entrance Light, surveyed 1894

Fires near this property

663 since 2000

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 663 fires within 5 miles of Buffalo Harbor South Entrance Light between 2000 and 2020, burning about 237 acres in total. 97 started naturally. 107 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined383
Arson/incendiarism107
Natural97
Smoking33
Debris and open burning16
Equipment and vehicle use15
Misuse of fire by a minor9
Recreation and ceremony2
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
7 September 2007Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
7 September 2005Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
5 September 2011Arson/incendiarismunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
5 September 2005Smokingunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
5 September 2005Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
3 September 2003Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
28 September 2004Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreFire Department of New Yorknot named
26 September 2016Smokingunder an acreFire Department of New YorkN/A

Every fire recorded in Erie County

Mines and quarries near this property

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Buffalo Harbor South Entrance Light: 1 unknown, 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Iron, Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Bethlehem Steel/ Lackawana, N.Y.IronUnknown
Eastern Limestone OperationStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer

Every working recorded in Erie County

Storms near this property

13 since 2011

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Lackawanna, the town this property stands in, in 13 storm reports between 2011 and 2025: 12 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
August 2017Thunderstorm WindLackawanna$15,000A downed tree damaged a car on Romeleo Street.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindLackawanna$12,000no account filed
September 2016Thunderstorm WindLackawanna$10,000Thunderstorm winds downed a light pole in Lackawanna.
September 2016Thunderstorm WindLackawanna$10,000Downed trees and power lines blocked Mariemont Street.
August 2017Thunderstorm WindLackawanna$8,000Trained spotters reported trees down on Dash Street in Buffalo.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindLackawanna$2,000Trees and powerlines were down at the intersection of Amber Street and South Park Avenue.
September 2021Thunderstorm WindLackawanna$1,000A tree was reported downed onto a powerline.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindLackawanna$1,000Trees and branches were downed in Cazenovia Park.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindLackawanna$1,000A railroad track arm was snapped by fallen tree debris.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindLackawanna$500Downed power lines on Lakewood Avenue in Buffalo.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindLackawanna-Wind gust was measured on the Buffalo Skyway.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindLackawanna-no account filed
June 2020HailLackawanna-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Erie County

Maps showing this location

11 surveys

United States Geological Survey topographic sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the coordinate the National Park Service records for this property, then testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 07001191 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Erie CountyAll 283 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
  • Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
  • Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.