Exhibits
Four modestly sized display areas on the first floor provide a variety of glimpses of Sodus Point at various points in its colorful history. The front entry room provides a reception and registration area with a diorama showing the construction of the lighthouse in 1870. Also displayed here are the uniforms of the Lighthouse and Coast Guard Personnel who lived and worked here.
The first of two rooms in the main stone center section of the building has been rearranged with a divider to provide better display space. A navigator's desk and ship's wheel provides a hands on opportunity to get the feel of shipboard control. On the reverse side of the divider is a mockup of a first class cabin of an early Lake Passenger Steamer with an authentic wash stand. Also displayed are several historic pictures of the area, and models of the several tugs used on Sodus Bay in 1890 to 1925.
The second of the two center rooms is devoted to our featured exhibit. The front of the Rochester to Sodus Bay Trolley juts out of the left wall of the room, and reveals a group of travelers about to board the car. All of the clothing on the mannequins is authentic and typical of the early vacationers who visited Sodus Point in the early 1900's. Also shown are examples of bathing and golfing attire worn by the vacationers of this same period. In 2004 the wall mural was completely redone to reflect elements of Sodus Point and the Sodus Point area.
In the remaining small room at the rear of the building, we have relocated the model of the Pennsylvania Railroad's Coal Trestle, whose history and description are displayed in pictures and in recorded explanation. This room is used to house a PC-based Multimedia System on which we have implemented a number of more detailed and illustrated presentations of the history of the area. In 2004 we added a scale model of the coal freighter Strathcona.
Currently the presentations available for visitor selection are:
- Early Sodus Point History -- The Pioneers of the Area
- The Shaker Settlement at Third Creek
- The Early Railroad History of Sodus Point
- Fishing in the Sodus Point Area
The Major attraction for many of our visitors is the climb of the circular stairs which lead to the lens room at the top of the lighthouse tower. From this vantage point, about 70 feet above the waters of the lake, a spectacular view of the Sodus Point Piers and the Bluffs of the Shore on Lake Ontario to the Northeast is presented.