{{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox lighthouse | name = Bluff Point Lighthouse | image = Bluff_Point_Light_on_Valcour_Island.jpeg | caption = Bluff Point Light | location = Valcour Island, New York | coordinates = {{coord|44.62282|-73.43116|format=dms|region:US-NY_type:landmark|display=inline,title}} | yearbuilt = 1874 | yearlit = 1874 | automated = 1930 | yeardeactivated = 1930-2004 | foundation = Dressed Stone/Timber | construction = Blue limestone / Wood | shape = Octagonal on Square House | marking = Red/White Tower on Square House | height = {{convert|35|ft}} | focalheight = {{convert|95|ft}} | lens = Fifth Order Fresnel lens (original), {{convert|300|mm|disp=flip}} (current) | intensity = | range = {{convert|7|nmi}} | characteristic = Flashing White 4s | fogsignal = | admiralty = | module = {{Infobox NRHP | embed=yes | name =Bluff Point Light | nrhp_type = | image = | caption = | area = | architect= | architecture= Italianate | added = 1993 | visitation_num = | visitation_year = | refnum=93000873<ref name=nris>{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref> }} }}
'''Bluff Point Light''', also known as the Valcour Island Light, on Valcour Island in Lake Champlain was in service from its construction in 1874 until 1930 and was one of the last lighthouses on Lake Champlain to be named. It is now part of Adirondack State Park and operated as a museum by the Clinton County Historical Association, an affiliate of the Adirondack Coast Cultural Alliance (ACCA).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.adkcoastcultural.org/members.html|title=Members|website=Adirondack Coast Cultural Alliance|access-date=2016-06-28}}</ref>
Bluff Point Light, for which the United States Congress approved $15,000 in funding in 1870,<ref name="navig">{{Cite web |url=http://www.apnmag.com/summer_2007/thompsonlighthouse.php |title=Navigating Lake Champlain |accessdate=2008-05-20 |author=Christine Thompson |work=All Points North |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080203045336/http://www.apnmag.com/summer_2007/thompsonlighthouse.php |archive-date=2008-02-03 |url-status=dead }}</ref> with a base of blue limestone, stands more than {{convert|90|ft}} above the shore. The grounds also include a wooden shed (which has since collapsed and was removed), a cistern and a privy.<ref name="np2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/history/maritime/light/bluffpt.htm |title=Bluff Point Light (Valcour Island) |access-date=2008-05-20|publisher=National Park Service |date=2005-02-02 |work=Inventory of Historic Light Stations: New York State Lighthouses}}</ref> For almost sixty years, the Victorian style lighthouse and its fifth order Fresnel lens guided ships through the channel between Valcour Island and New York State.<ref name="ahl">{{Cite web|url=http://www.historiclakes.org/Valcour/bluff_point.htm|title=Bluff Point Lighthouse|accessdate=2008-05-20|publisher=America's Historic Lakes|year=2003|author=James P. Millard|archive-date=2008-05-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080525141511/http://www.historiclakes.org/Valcour/bluff_point.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> As was the case with many other lighthouses, the lighthouse keeper for Bluff Point Light was a disabled Civil War veteran, Major William Herwerth, who worked at the lighthouse from 1876 until 1881 when he died while on duty. In an unusual position for a woman at that time, Herwerth's wife Mary was given command of the lighthouse, which she maintained until 1902.<ref name="navig"/>
In 1930, the lighthouse ceased operation when a steel tower with an automated light was built to the south of the lighthouse, rendering the lighthouse obsolete.<ref name="off">{{Cite web|url=http://www.clintoncountyhistorical.org/lighthouse.html|title=The Bluff Point Lighthouse at Valcour Island|accessdate=2008-05-20|publisher=Clinton County Historical Association|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080515051608/http://clintoncountyhistorical.org/lighthouse.html|archive-date=2008-05-15|url-status=dead}}</ref> The lighthouse remained unlit until 2002 when the United States Coast Guard lit it in August 2002,<ref name="lit">{{Cite web|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=MCNP&p_multi=RHDB&p_theme=mcnp&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=10D846A109C92850&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|title=Champlain Lighthouse is Lit Again|accessdate=2008-05-20|date=2002-08-09|work=The Rutland Herald}}</ref> although it was not officially put back into service until 2004.<ref name="off"/>
After the lighthouse was taken out of service, it was purchased by Doctor Otto Raboff from Massachusetts who renovated and used it as a summer house with his family.<ref name="navig"/> In the 1980s, the lighthouse became a part of Adirondack State Park and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has held the deed to the house since 1986 and pays for all maintenance. Since that time, the Clinton County Historical Association worked to restore the lighthouse and preserve it as a museum.<ref name="navig"/> In 1999, the Association was given an award by Adirondack Architectural Heritage for their stewardship of the lighthouse.<ref name="aarch">{{Cite web|url=http://www.aarch.org/awards/pastawards.html|title=Past AARCH Awardees|accessdate=2008-05-20|publisher=Adirondack Architectural Heritage|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080522145923/http://www.aarch.org/awards/pastawards.html|archivedate=2008-05-22}}</ref><ref name=nrhpdoc>{{cite report|type=none|url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75316948 |title=National Register of Historic Places Registration: New York SP Valcour Island Lighthouse|publisher=National Archives and Records Administration |author=Linda M. Garofalini |date= July 1993| access-date=October 26, 2025 }} ({{NationalArchivesNote}})</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==Further reading== * Oleszewski, Wes. ''Great Lakes Lighthouses, American and Canadian: A Comprehensive Directory/Guide to Great Lakes Lighthouses'', (Gwinn, Michigan: Avery Color Studios, Inc., 1998) {{ISBN|0-932212-98-0}}. * {{cite uscgnavbib}} * U.S. Coast Guard. ''Historically Famous Lighthouses'' (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1957). * Wright, Larry and Wright, Patricia. ''Great Lakes Lighthouses Encyclopedia'' Hardback (Erin: Boston Mills Press, 2006) {{ISBN|1-55046-399-3}}
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20080515051608/http://clintoncountyhistorical.org/lighthouse.html The Bluff Point Lighthouse at Valcour Island] {{Commons category|Bluff Point Light|position=left}}
{{Lighthouses of New York}} {{National Register of Historic Places in New York}}
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Category:Lighthouses completed in 1874 Category:Museums in Clinton County, New York Category:Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Category:Lighthouse museums in New York (state) Category:Lake Champlain Category:National Register of Historic Places in Clinton County, New York Category:Transportation buildings and structures in Clinton County, New York