Off the shore of Lorain, Ohio is the lighthouse that has become the symbol of the city. It served for years as a beacon of light for ships on Lake Erie. What tales it could tell of storms and shipwrecks, of dutiful serving and patient waiting. It was the steady beam on which captains depended as they sailed the lake.

There was much talk about the need to build a house for the Lorain light keeper who was taking care of the beacon and range light. By 1913 there were plans to build a new lighthouse that would include a place for the light keeper to live. The actual construction did not start until 1916 and the lighthouse was not finished until 1917.

The new 1917 lighthouse was built on a wooden crib foundation. The crib was filled with sandstone and sunk into 30 feet of water. On the top a concrete base was built, and above that was the construction of the three-storied building. Included on the first floor was the engine room, and storage. The second floor included the living quarters. Electricity was installed in 1932. The rotating beam projected 15 miles out. The bulb in the center was surrounded by “fresnel” lens, which is a series of glass prisms, each of which magnifies the light into a final brightness of 50,000-candle power (924 Watts).

In 1939, the U. S. Coast Guard took over operation of the lighthouse. During one month in the late 1950s they received over 60 distress calls. The Coast Guard maintained the facility until 1965, when it was decommissioned. A new automatic light had been installed on the pier and only was checked occasionally. Upon decommissioning the lighthouse was scheduled to be torn down.

The first Lorain Lighthouse Celebration was held on August 5, 1989 to secure the lighthouse's place in the history of Lorain. Many people worked to save the Lighthouse. Ownership went through many hands until in 1990, when the Port of Lorain Foundation, Inc. bought it for $1.00. Since that time much money and effort has gone into restoration. New steel piling was driven around the outside of the wooden crib, and concrete was poured into the entire base. The building itself was restored and painted. Reactivated in 2001 as a minor aid, a red light flashed from the square tower atop the two-and-a-half story reinforced concrete keeper's house.

The pier leading to the lighthouse has a water separation so that the current will help to keep sand from building-up at the mouth of Black River. While this is very necessary for navigation, it also causes problems of accessibility for people who want to visit the lighthouse. There are plans for boat tours to the Lorain lighthouse in the near future.