Horse Island Lighthouse

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About The Site

Horse Island sketch

Sackets Harbor (originally spelled Sacketts Harbour) was the chief shipbuilding site on the Great Lakes for the United States during the War of 1812. Thousands of shipbuilders, sailors, and soldiers were stationed at this staging area for operations on Lake Ontario. One-third of the U.S. Army and one-quarter of the Navy were stationed at Sackets Harbor during the war.

Two battles were fought at this site (in 1812 and 1813). In the First Battle of Sackets Harbor, British marines were unsuccessful in retrieving the Lord Nelson, a British schooner seized by the Americans.

Select an image to enlarge

Horse Island Light - obscured by trees

Horse Island, just off Sackets Harbor, was the staging point for British operations during the Second Battle of Sackets Harbor. British troops attempted to capture supplies and destroy the 28-gun General Pike, a new vessel under construction. The attack was thwarted by U.S. troops, but the Americans, fearing their stores would be captured, burned their own supplies.

The first lighthouse was built at this important military post in 1831. The present structure was built in 1869. The fifty-foot tower sits just off Sackets Harbor, and is similar in design to the lighthouse at Stony Point. The lighthouse was replaced by a skeleton tower in 1956.

Schuyler Simmons was keeper at Horse Island from 1926 until his death in 1932. He was succeeded by his wife Julia. Their grand-daughter, Dorothy Beetz, recalls that "when the tide was down, my stepgrandmother on the island would wave a white diaper telling us that it was safe to drive across by car from the mainland. If the water was high, we then went to the island by boat." (Lighthouse Digest October 2005)

Today, the military has left Sackets Harbor. The town has been reborn as a quaint resort town and historic site. It is also the home of the Seaway Trail Visitors Center, located in the August Sacket Mansion.

References (see links)

Seaway Trail Lighthouses (2nd Edition), Tinney, Burdette-Watkins, p. 35
Lighthouses of the Seaway Trail (video)
Seaway Trail Guidebook to the War of 1812, Wilder, pp. 6, 62-63
Lighthouse Digest October 2005

Directions: Horse Island is located just off Sackets Harbor (take Route 3 west from exit 46 Interstate 81 in Watertown). Turn west on Main Street (Route 62). Sackets Harbor Battlefield is at the end of Main Street. Turn left on Hill Street, right on Washington Street, and then follow Ontario Street. The island just across the water is Horse Island. You can catch a glimpse of the lighthouse between the homes on the water side of Ontario Street. A better view would be in winter, when the lighthouse is not obscured by leaves. The best view is by boat. The island and lighthouse are privately owned and not open to the public.

Note that the lighthouse is private property. Please respect the privacy of the owners.

Sackets Harbor Battlefield is open May-September, or by appointment.

Sackets Harbor Visitors Center: 301 W. Main Street, Sackets Harbor, NY; (315) 646-2321

(September 2006)