The first permanent American settlement in the area was built by Nathan Tuttle and Nathan Wilcox in 1801 near the mouth of the Salmon River. Upstream, what was to become the village of Pulaski began as a single log cabin constructed in 1804 by Benjamin Winch. The stone Selkirk Lighthouse was built near the river's mouth in 1838 and survives to this day; the lighthouse served both to aid navigation along the Lake Ontario shore, and as a location to collect tariffs on items imported from Canada.