Presque Isle Light

The Presque Isle Light in 1885, before the tower height was increased

Construction on the lighthouse was delayed until September 2, 1872 after the Lighthouse Board solicited bids and initially received none.[13] Part of the problem lie in the relative isolation of Presque Isle, which would prove notoriously difficult to deliver building materials. No roads connected it to the mainland and, at times in its history, the peninsula would become an island.[14] Originally, barges could be offloaded at the closest point to the lighthouse from Lake Erie. After one foundered in a storm and lost 6,000 bricks, the only recourse was to land on the bay-side and carry everything 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to the lighthouse site.[13] The masonry of both of lighthouse tower and keeper's residence were completed by November 1873. Work was halted for the winter on December 2 and did not resume until April 16, 1873.[13] The Presque Isle Light was completed on July 1, 1873.

Once finished, a fourth-order Fresnel lens was installed in the tower, and it went into operation on July 12—Charles Waldo, the Presque Isle Light's first keeper, noted in the log for that day: "This is a new light station and the light will be exhibited for the first time tonight. There was one visitor."[15] The lighthouse originally produced a fixed, white light which flashed red every 60 seconds.[13] In 1882, it was given a new set of lens and its characteristic was changed to an alternating red and white flash every 10 seconds.[16] This signal pattern led the lighthouse to becoming nicknamed the "Flash Light" by Erie residents.[17] Because the trees surrounding the lighthouse required annual trimming to keep the light visible, the decision was made in 1896 to increase the tower's height by 17 feet 4 inches (5.3 m).[18][19] It took one month—from August 19 to September 18, 1896—for bricklayers to extend to the tower.[19]

A single, 150-watt, incandescent light bulb illuminated the lighthouse beacon; it was visible up to 18 miles (29 km) after it was magnified by its Fresnel lens to 120,000 candlepower.[20] In 1962, the lighthouse's Fresnel lens was removed and replaced with a modern aviation beacon.[21] At that time, the characteristic was changed to its current isophase light.

The Presque Isle Light was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 4, 1983 as part of a group listing of lighthouses and light stations operated by the United States Coast Guard on the Great Lakes.[2][22] The lighthouse was one of 17 declared government surplus by the Coast Guard in January 1997, and ownership of the Presque Isle Light was taken over by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.[23]

On July 25, 2014, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources transferred the Presque Isle Light, in a 35-year lease to a nonprofit organization charged with restoring and operating the lighthouse as a museum.[24] The lighthouse was reopened to the public for tours in the summer of 2015.[25] Renovations will see the 1989-additions, as well as most of the modern amenities, removed to return the lighthouse to its appearance in the late-1800s and early-1900s. The lighthouse is depicted on an optional "special organization" Pennsylvania license plate benefiting the Presque Isle Partnership.[26]