In 1858 a light was placed on a 7-acre site at Crown Point, on Lake Champlain, near the historic Grenadier Battery, historic ruins of French and English fortifications. The base of the tower was 57 feet above water and the focal plane was 86 feet above water level. A fixed fifth-order, white light was there in 1894. In 1888 a steamboat wharf had been built to accommodate visitors by water to the fortifications. [Illustration] In 1926 the light was discontinued and the site conveyed to the State of New York. The States of New York and Vermont, as part of the commemoration of the three hundredth anniversary of the discovery of the lake by Samuel de Champlain, removed the old tower and built in its stead an ornamental cylindrical tower of cut granite blocks, surrounded by eight Doric columns. On the pedestal is an heroic group in bronze with Champlain as the central figure, presented by the Republic of France. The bronze group was designed by Rodin, the famous French sculptor. (3) _NEW YORK_ PORTLAND HARBOR (BARCELONA) LIGHTHOUSE SOUTH SHORE OF LAKE ERIE Congress appropriated $5,000 on May 23, 1828, “for building a lighthouse at a proper site, at or near Portland, on Lake Erie, in the State of New York.” The site was purchased for $50 and contract was made to erect a lighthouse and dwelling which cost $3,456.78. The first keeper appointed May 27, 1829, was Joshua Lane, a “deaf, superannuated clergyman, having numerous female dependents” whose salary was $350 per annum. The first light apparatus was described in the contract as 11 patent lamps with 11 14-inch reflectors and 2 spare lamps. There were double tin oil butts for 500 gallons of oil. No mention was made at that time of equipment for burning natural gas. On January 1, 1831, a contract was made to provide the light with natural gas “at all times and seasons” and to keep the apparatus and fixtures in repair at an annual cost of $213. This was described at the time as follows: “The Lighthouse at Portland Harbor in the County of Chautauqua and State of New York, is now illuminated, in the most splendid style, by _natural carburetted hydrogen gas_. Ever since the first settlement of the country about Portland, it has been known that an inflammable gas constantly issued from the fissures of a rock, which forms the bed of a little brook that empties into Lake Erie, near the harbor, in such quantity as to be easily set on fire by applying a flame to it. This fountain of gas was known to the early settlers of the country by the name of the ‘burning spring.’ No valuable use, however, was made of this gas until Mr. W. A. Hart, an ingenious gunsmith of the village of Fredonia, and some other young mechanics, five or six years ago, collected a quantity of similar gas from the rocky bed of Canadaway creek in a reservoir, and conveyed it from thence to all the principal stores, taverns, and shops in the said village, where it is still used instead of lamps.”