Horseshoe Reef Lighthouse
The Horseshoe Reef Lighthouse is a dilapidated lighthouse in Lake Erie between New York State and Canada near Buffalo, New York and at the head of the Niagara River, which empties Lake Erie into Lake Ontario. 

The United Kingdom ceded one acre of territory surrounding Horseshoe Reef, an underwater hazard, to the United States on December 9, 1850. As such, the lighthouse played a minor role in the territorial evolution of the United States. On March 3, 1851 the US Congress allocated funding to build a lighthouse there, a contingency agreed upon for the transfer of the land. Construction was problematic but first light was finally achieved on September 1, 1856 using a Fresnel lens.

Operation ceased on August 1, 1919 or in 1920 and the lighthouse has been so far simply left to the elements and most of the house has rotted away.

The lighthouse is on the "Doomsday List" of the "Lighthouse Digest" magazine.

At present, the remains of the lighthouse serve as a habitat for cormorants.
Q39715
lighthouse
Concept
Q5492
Lake Erie
LOC
Q1384
New York State
LOC
Q16
Canada
LOC
Q40435
Buffalo, New York
LOC
Q182343
Niagara River
LOC
Q1062
Lake Ontario
LOC
Q787170
territorial evolution of the United States
UNK
Q14672
Fresnel lens
Concept
Q6546330
Lighthouse Digest
MEDIA
Q3901247
cormorant
Concept
Q80325527
Horseshoe Reef Lighthouse
LOC
1850-12-09T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
December 9, 1850
DATE
1851-03-03T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
March 3, 1851
DATE
1856-09-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
September 1, 1856
DATE
1919-08-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
August 1, 1919
DATE
1920-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1920
DATE
instance of
located in or next to body of water
located in the administrative territorial entity
basin country
lake outflow
located in or next to body of water
located in or next to body of water
located in or next to body of water
lakes on river
located in the administrative territorial entity
country
mouth of the watercourse
located in the administrative territorial entity
basin country
inflows