The Ghost of the Charlotte Lighthouse

On a cliff overlooking Lake Ontario, the Genesee River, and the port of Rochester, New York, a lonely lighthouse stood watch. Its windows were boarded up and its roof was leaking. Its face was dirty and its light had long since gone out. Its front door was hidden with brush and its stairs were crumbling. But maybe you wouldn’t look so good either if you were 127 years old! From inside the lighthouse tower came the sound of scratching, but no one was there to hear it. That is, no human ears were there to hear it because the lighthouse had been abandoned for eighteen years. Across town, life was very different. Susan B. Anthony School #27 was vibrating with energy. For this class, saving the Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse would become more than just a school project, it would become the adventure of a lifetime.

I am a native Rochesterian and have spent many years in the Rochester City School District as both a student and a teacher. While growing up, I lived in Rochester and graduated from #28 School and East High School, but I also spent a great deal of time at my grandmother’s farm in Orleans County. I attended SUNY at Albany for a BS in math education and then taught in RSCD for 25 years. I also have a MS from Nazareth College. I now live in Walworth, Wayne County, and I am an unapologetic booster of both Rochester and all of New York State.