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Just because it looks like a lighthouse does not mean that it is a lighthouse. This saying is especially true of the image shown here from an old stereo view card that we recently purchased at an auction.
In doing the research on the card, which had no writing on it to indicate what or where it was, our investigation led us in an unlikely direction.
We discovered that the image is of the Terrapin Tower that was built in 1829 by General Parkhurst Whitney, a prominent New York businessman. In 1872 it was blown up in anticipation of a new tower that was going to be built to replace it, a plan that never actually materialized.
The 40-foot tower that was 12 feet in diameter and constructed of rough stone even had a spiral staircase; just like a lighthouse.
And now for the rest of the story — The Terrapin Tower was built on the eastern edge of the Horseshoe Falls and was one of the very first of the observation towers to over look the world famous Niagara Falls.
This story appeared in the
March 2008 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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