Last Friday I.O. and I left home around 9am for Burlington, arriving at our motel in Shelburne at 2:45pm. It’s a long trip, no matter which way you go!

Later we drove into Burlington and down to the waterfront area. The Burlington Boathouse was right there so I went out onto their deck for a couple of photos of the new breakwater lighthouses. I was facing into the sun so they aren’t too good.

Here’s the North Breakwater Light.



And here’s the South Breakwater Light.



The construction of the Burlington Breakwater began in 1837. The only lighthouse on the lake at this time was the Juniper Island light which was built in 1826 following the opening of the Champlain Canal in 1823. Juniper Island is directly out from the Burlington Harbor. The breakwater started out as being around 1000’ but
eventually grew to over 4000’ in length. The first lighthouses were built on the north and south ends of the breakwater in 1857 and a middle light was added in 1890. The north and middle lights served intil 1925 and the south light until 1950. At one time there was a keepers house on the breakwater but it was never used so it was sold and still serves as a private residence in Burlington. Over the years the
breakwater deteriorated and the waterfront area became run down. The early 1990’s brought a renewed effort to restore the breakwater and beautify the waterfront. Today it is a lovely place.

It was a beautiful evening and after a while we wandered down along the boardwalk towards the Coast Guard where the ceremony was to take place.

Here’s the Coast Guard building.



Under a tent I found Art Cohn, Director of the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum and Nick Warner of the Economic Development Office in Burlington. We chatted for a bit and then along came the Clark family, owners of the Windmill Point and
Isle La Motte Lighthouses. More and more people began arriving, some for the ceremony and others simply out for the evening with their families and pets. Some were drawn by the prospect of musical entertainment.

Here’s a shot of the area from the Coast Guard. The Burlington Boathouse is on the right.



Here’s the band, Atlantic Crossing, who played some sort of Vermont folk music I guess. Whatever type of music it was they sounded pretty good.



Go to Part 2.