Smeaton's Tower stood were becoming eroded. Each time a large wave hit, the lighthouse shook from side to side. Smeaton's Tower ceased operation in 1879 with the illumination of Douglass's Tower on an adjacent rock. In 1882 the upper part of Smeaton's Tower was dismantled and rebuilt as a memorial to Smeaton on a new base on Plymouth Hoe, replacing the triangular obelisk that had been built there by Trinity House as a navigation aid in the early 19th century. It was opened to the public by the Mayor of Plymouth on 24 September 1884. The foundation and stub of the old
Bill Smeaton Bill Smeaton Bill Smeaton is a former Canadian politician, who served as mayor of Niagara Falls, Ontario from 1983 to 1991. First elected to Niagara Falls City Council as an alderman in 1973, he was elected mayor in a 1983 by-election following the resignation of Wayne Thomson, and was subsequently re-elected in the municipal elections of 1985 and 1998. In the 1991 municipal election, Thomson ran for mayor again, while Smeaton ran for a seat on Niagara Regional Council, serving on that body until his retirement from politics in 2010. He was appointed as a citizenship judge in February 2011.