Horse Island Light, also known as Sackets Harbor Light, is located on Horse Island in Sackets Harbor, Jefferson County in New York on Lake Ontario. In July 2017 the 24-acre island was acquired for preservation by the Civil War Trust, aided by a grant from the National Park Service. This was the first grant in the United States made for a War of 1812 site under the NPS battlefield grants program.[1][2][3]
A modern steel skeletal tower replaced the lighthouse as an Aid to Navigation in 1957,[5] and the lighthouse and property were sold. It is now in private hands and not open to the public. The keepers quarters were built in 1870, and consisted of a 1+1⁄2 story Queen Anne/Italianate brick house. There was also a barn and oil house on the property.
During the War of 1812, the British used Horse Island as a staging area before the Battle of Sackett's Harbor. In July 2017, the 24-acre Horse Island, located near the village, was acquired for preservation by the Civil War Trust, aided by a grant from the National Park Service. It was the site of a War of 1812 engagement. This was the first time in the US that a grant from the American Battlefield Land Grant program has been used to preserve a War of 1812 site.[2]
The lighthouse keeper at one time was Schuyler Shibley Simmons.[6]
Oleszewski, Wes. Great Lakes Lighthouses, American and Canadian: A Comprehensive Directory/Guide to Great Lakes Lighthouses, (Gwinn, Michigan: Avery Color Studios, Inc., 1998) ISBN0-932212-98-0.