Fairport Harbor Lighthouse began as a solitary brick tower in 1825, located on the south shore of Lake Erie between Cleveland and Ashtabula. The present tower and red brick keeper's house were constructed in 1871. Standing 60 feet high and housing 69 steps to the top, the tower contained a third-order Fresnel lens, shining its fixed white light for 17 and on-half miles. The original  beacon not only guided vessels, but also served as one of the northern terminals of the "Underground Railway" before the civil war.

After a light and foghorn signal were erected on the west breakwater pierhead, the Fairport Harbor Lighthouse became obsolete and was discontinued in 1925. The significance of this historic sentinel did not escape lighthouse lovers, who endeavored to preserve the charm and beauty of this special beacon by founding the first Great Lakes Maritime Museum in the US within the keeper's quarters, saving the Fresnel lens and other artifacts from destruction.

Attached to the dwelling and overlooking the harbor is the former pilothouse from the Great Lakes carrier Frontenac. The museum houses navigational instruments, marine charts, pictures and paintings of ships, lanterns, the original Fesnel lens and other relics.