No. O4
SMALL TOWN WNY
BARCELONA, NY
A TOUCH OF OLD
CAPE COD IN WNY
Barcelona Harbor encompasses a rocky-shored beach, the Barcelona lighthouse, a modern boat launch ramp, and a little street that runs parallel to the beach that has a few restaurants and a fishery....
(Click pics for larger images)
Sponsored by Visit Buffalo Niagara
& these Barcelona area businesses...
& these Barcelona area businesses...
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Barcelona Harbor encompasses a rocky-shored beach, the Barcelona lighthouse, a modern boat launch ramp, and a little street that runs parallel to the beach that has a few restaurants and a fishery.
The harbor is located just north of Westfield off Route 5 or you can take Exit 60 off the I-90 as the three-way exit puts you practically at the harbor.
For a few centuries, this harbor was a launch site for people traveling deeper into North America.
Over time, it became developed as a commercial fishing harbor. Now, in 2022, there are only a few boats still in use that are run by the family that owns the fishery.
One of my favorite quotes of all time is by William Morris. He wrote, “Nothing useless can be truly beautiful.”And yes, yes, yes… to the hundredth on that one William.
Whenever I encounter a beautiful tiny harbor such as the one at Barcelona, or even the equally beautiful one up in Pultneyville, just east of Rochester, I'm reminded of this quote.
For as much as these harbors have now turned mostly recreational, at one point they served a deeply pragmatic purpose. And being from such a deeply blue-collared, hard-working, pragmatic town such as Buffalo, New York, nothing makes me happier than what I call … “purposeful beauty.” “Purposeful beauty” is the type of deep-set beauty that can only come from something being well-used, well-loved and well-worn over decades or even centuries. There aren't many things in this world that to me are more beautifully loved, worked or worn than small fishing harbors and Barcelona has got a doozy of a harbor that Western New York needs to discover.
And what more could you want from a harbor as gorgeous as Barcelona you ask? Well, how about a one-of-a-kind iconic lighthouse?
If you've ever been through this route, then you've seen the lighthouse. but what most of you haven’t seen, is inside.
The interior staircase is wooden and anchored to the tower walls with a single wooden central support beam and it is an awesome sight to see.
The number of steps from the lighthouse floor to the light platform is 50 steps and the base diameter is 22 feet. The construction is native rough-cut field-stone with a lime-based mortar. The structure was in service for only 30 years from 1829 to 1859.
If you get a chance to stop by and catch a tour of the interior, I’d highly recommended it.
So, why Barcelona? Well the answer is that there's really almost nothing like this left in Western New York.
The harbor’s history goes back to when the area was first settled and it is largely undeveloped and untouched. It’s an absolutely transcendent place. It feels free and isolated to a degree, and I mean that in the best way possible. It's a really well-loved place and you can feel it when you’re there and that’s the point of everything I do here.
Love where you live. Take care of it. Be proud of it. Do what you can to make it the best that you can.
A lot of us, for one reason or another, are stuck in the place we're in, so why not make it the best we can and I think that's what they've done in Barcelona.
Yeah, it has the Welch's grape juice dynasty history. And yes, it has this beautiful fishing harbor and geographically it's been blessed with a lot of good, but in the end, it's not about that. It's about what you make of it. Right?
Barcelona has a feel to it that’s really hard to describe. It reminds me a lot of Cape Cod or Acadia National Park or even Bar Harbor. It's a really special place that's right down the road and I couldn’t recommend it more highly to you.
Just go see it for yourself or at least check out the pics in the middle spread here in this paper. You won’t be disappointed. I promise. ~AA
The harbor is located just north of Westfield off Route 5 or you can take Exit 60 off the I-90 as the three-way exit puts you practically at the harbor.
For a few centuries, this harbor was a launch site for people traveling deeper into North America.
Over time, it became developed as a commercial fishing harbor. Now, in 2022, there are only a few boats still in use that are run by the family that owns the fishery.
One of my favorite quotes of all time is by William Morris. He wrote, “Nothing useless can be truly beautiful.”And yes, yes, yes… to the hundredth on that one William.
Whenever I encounter a beautiful tiny harbor such as the one at Barcelona, or even the equally beautiful one up in Pultneyville, just east of Rochester, I'm reminded of this quote.
For as much as these harbors have now turned mostly recreational, at one point they served a deeply pragmatic purpose. And being from such a deeply blue-collared, hard-working, pragmatic town such as Buffalo, New York, nothing makes me happier than what I call … “purposeful beauty.” “Purposeful beauty” is the type of deep-set beauty that can only come from something being well-used, well-loved and well-worn over decades or even centuries. There aren't many things in this world that to me are more beautifully loved, worked or worn than small fishing harbors and Barcelona has got a doozy of a harbor that Western New York needs to discover.
And what more could you want from a harbor as gorgeous as Barcelona you ask? Well, how about a one-of-a-kind iconic lighthouse?
If you've ever been through this route, then you've seen the lighthouse. but what most of you haven’t seen, is inside.
The interior staircase is wooden and anchored to the tower walls with a single wooden central support beam and it is an awesome sight to see.
The number of steps from the lighthouse floor to the light platform is 50 steps and the base diameter is 22 feet. The construction is native rough-cut field-stone with a lime-based mortar. The structure was in service for only 30 years from 1829 to 1859.
If you get a chance to stop by and catch a tour of the interior, I’d highly recommended it.
So, why Barcelona? Well the answer is that there's really almost nothing like this left in Western New York.
The harbor’s history goes back to when the area was first settled and it is largely undeveloped and untouched. It’s an absolutely transcendent place. It feels free and isolated to a degree, and I mean that in the best way possible. It's a really well-loved place and you can feel it when you’re there and that’s the point of everything I do here.
Love where you live. Take care of it. Be proud of it. Do what you can to make it the best that you can.
A lot of us, for one reason or another, are stuck in the place we're in, so why not make it the best we can and I think that's what they've done in Barcelona.
Yeah, it has the Welch's grape juice dynasty history. And yes, it has this beautiful fishing harbor and geographically it's been blessed with a lot of good, but in the end, it's not about that. It's about what you make of it. Right?
Barcelona has a feel to it that’s really hard to describe. It reminds me a lot of Cape Cod or Acadia National Park or even Bar Harbor. It's a really special place that's right down the road and I couldn’t recommend it more highly to you.
Just go see it for yourself or at least check out the pics in the middle spread here in this paper. You won’t be disappointed. I promise. ~AA
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