In 1828, $5000 was appropriated for a lighthouse at Portland Harbor (now Barcelona), in response to growing Erie Canal traffic. A forty foot fieldstone tower and keeper's residence was completed in 1829, and fitted with an oil lamp and reflector. The 1829 tower is the oldest still standing on the Great Lakes.

Barcelona lighthouse was the only lighthouse to have been fueled by its own source of natural gas. In 1831, local settlers discovered what was described as a "burning spring," which generated natural gas. The gas was piped to the lighthouse and used to illuminate the lamp instead of oil. The lamp was run on primarily on gas until 1838, when the source was exhausted.

Due to the construction of a railroad along the lakeshore in 1852, Barcelona never grew into a major port, although the railroad did stimulate the local fishing industry.

The Lighthouse Board decommissioned Barcelona Lighthouse in 1859 when it was discovered, to its embarrassment, that there was no harbor there. The lighthouse and keeper's residence were sold to private owners in 1872, and still stand today. The tower was relit by a modern gas lamp in 1962. The light remains lit courtesy of the owner and the town of Westfield, which pays for the gas.

References (see links)

Seaway Trail Lighthouses (2nd Edition), Tinney, Burdett-Watkins p. 11
Eastern Great Lakes Lighthouses - Ontario, Erie, and Huron, Roberts, Jones p. 31
Lighthouses of the Seaway Trail (video)