Historic Light Station
Information
& Photography
OHIO
ASHTABULA HARBOR LIGHT
NORTH END OF ASHTABULA BREAKWATER IN ASHTABULA HARBOR ENTRANCE/LAKE ERIE
Station Established: 1835; relocated 1916
Year Current Tower(s) First Lit: 1905
Operational? YES
Automated? YES 1973
Deactivated: n/a
Foundation Materials: CONCRETE CRIB (1916)
Construction Materials: STEEL W/IRON PLATE
Tower Shape: CYLINDRICAL TOWER ON SQUARE HOUSE
Height: 40-feet; height of focal plane = 51 feet
Markings/Pattern: WHITE W/BLACK TRIM
Relationship to Other Structure: INTEGRAL
Original Lens: FOURTH ORDER, FRESNEL 1916
Foghorn: Diaphone
Historical Information:
- 1835: The tower is 40’ above Lake Erie and is constructed of steel and iron plate. 1928: During a winter Storm in 1928 two keepers were imprisoned by a fierce ice storm that encapsulated the lighthouse. They had to thaw the door and tunnel through ice 5’ thick in places.
- The Great Lakes marine and U.S. Coast Guard Memorial Museum is across the parking lot from the best view of the lighthouse. The Keepers house is now a museum and full of pictorial history of Ashtabula. An extensive collection of ship models and the pilothouse from the steamer Thomas Walters are on display.
Photographs:
CLEVELAND HARBOR PIERHEAD LIGHTS
CLEVELAND HARBOR ENTRANCE/LAKE ERIE
Station Established: 1831
Year Current Tower(s) First Lit: 1911
Operational? YES
Automated? YES 1965; East Pierhead: 1959
Deactivated: n/a
Foundation Materials: CONCRETE
Construction Materials: CAST IRON/BRICK/WOOD
Tower Shape: CONICAL
Markings/Pattern: WHITE W/BLACK LANTERN
Relationship to Other Structure: INTEGRAL
Original Lens: FOURTH ORDER, FRESNEL; East Pierhead: FIFTH ORDER, FRESNEL 1911
Photographs:
CLEVELAND BREAKWATER LIGHT
Photographs:
CLEVELAND EAST BREAKWATER WEST END LIGHT; Original caption: "Cleveland East Breakwater West End, Ohio. Tenth District. June 1911. Acetylene Lt. on Steel Tower; 27 June 1911."
CLEVELAND EAST PIER LIGHT
Photographs:
CLEVELAND EAST PIER LIGHT; Original caption: "Cleveland East Pier Light, Ohio [;] Ninth Naval District (Cleveland) [;] Taken in June 1933 by R. C. Smith."
CONNEAUT LIGHT
Photographs:
CONNEAUT HARBOR WEST BREAKWATER LIGHT
CONNEAUT RIVER ENTRANCE/LAKE ERIE
Station Established: 1835
Year Current Tower(s) First Lit: 1936
Operational? YES
Automated? YES 1972
Deactivated: n/a
Foundation Materials: CONCRETE CRIB
Construction Materials: STEEL
Tower Shape: PYRAMIDAL
Markings/Pattern: WHITE W/BLACK BAND "STREAMLINE MODERNE"
Relationship to Other Structure: SEPARATE
Original Lens: 375 MM
Photographs:
FAIRPORT HARBOR WEST BREAKWATER LIGHT
GRAND RIVER ENTRANCE/LAKE ERIE
Station Established: 1925
Year Current Tower(s) First Lit: 1925
Operational? YES
Automated? YES
Deactivated: n/a
Foundation Materials: CONCRETE PIERHEAD
Construction Materials: BRICK IN STEEL FRAME
Tower Shape: SQUARE
Markings/Pattern: WHITE TOWER W/RED ROOF
Relationship to Other Structure: ATTACHED
Original Lens: FOURTH ORDER
Photographs:
GRAND RIVER (FAIRPORT HARBOR) LIGHT
FAIRPORT HARBOR/LAKE ERIE
Station Established: 1825
Year Current Tower(s) First Lit: 1871
Operational? NO
Automated? NO
Deactivated: 1925
Foundation Materials: DRESSED STONE/TIMBER; PILING
Construction Materials: SANDSTONE/BRICK
Tower Shape: CONICAL
Markings/Pattern: NATURAL BEREA SANDSTONE
Relationship to Other Structure: SEPARATE
Original Lens: THIRD ORDER, FRESNEL 1871
Photographs:
GREEN ISLAND LIGHT
3 miles southwest of Put-In-Bay on South Bass Island
Station Established: 1855
Year Current Tower(s) First Lit: 1865
Operational? NO
Automated? NO
Deactivated: 1939, abandoned.
Photographs:
HURON HARBOR LIGHT
Location: Huron Harbor, Lake Erie
Station Established: 1835
Year Current Tower(s) First Lit: 1936
Operational: Yes
Automated: Yes, 1936 (operated from building on shore)
Deactivated: n/a
Foundation Materials: Concrete breakwater
Construction Materials: Steel
Tower Shape: Pyramidal
Markings/Pattern: White, Art Moderne style
Relationship to Other Structure: INTEGRAL
Original Lens:
Fog Signal: None
Photographs:
Huron Harbor Light, circa 1904: (75 dpi) ; (300 dpi); original caption: "HURON, OHIO NINTH NAVAL DISTRICT (CLEVELAND) [;] Looking WSW 3/8 mile."; photo dated May, 1904; Photo No. 59; photographer unknown.
Huron Harbor Light, circa 1933: (75dpi) ; (300 dpi); original caption: "HURON LIGHT, OHIO NINTH NAVAL DISTRICT (CLEVELAND); photo dated June, 1933; no photo number; photo by "R. C. Smith."
Huron Harbor Light, circa 1936 (new tower): (75 dpi) ; (300 dpi); original caption: "Huron [;] Light #381."; no date; Photo No. 433; photographer unknown.
Huron Harbor Light, circa 1970: (75 dpi); 1936 tower with lantern room removed; official caption: "LTSTA HURON."; photo not dated; Photo No. 05750705; photographer unknown.
LORAIN WEST BREAKWATER LIGHT
WEST HARBOR BREAKWATER/LAKE ERIE
Station Established: 1837
Year Current Tower(s) First Lit: 1917
Operational? NO
Automated? YES 1966
Deactivated: 1966
Foundation Materials: CONCRETE PIER
Construction Materials: CONCRETE/STEEL
Tower Shape: SQUARE
Markings/Pattern: WHITE W/RED TRIM
Relationship to Other Structure: INTEGRAL
Original Lens: FOURTH ORDER, FRESNEL 1918
Photographs:
MARBLEHEAD LIGHT (FORMERLY SANDUSKY LIGHT)
Location: On the northeasterly end of Marblehead, westerly part of Lake Erie, Ohio, and southerly side of the entrance to the channel between Kelleys and Bass islands and the mainland.
Station Established: 1821
Year Current Tower: First Lit: 1821
Operational: Yes
Automated: Yes, 1958
Deactivated: N/A
Foundation Materials: Stone
Construction Materials: Limestone
Tower Shape: Conical
Tower Height: 60 feet from base of tower to center of lantern
Markings/Pattern: White with red trim; black lantern
Characteristic: Fixed white
Relationship to Other Structure: Separate
Original Lens: 13 Lamps & Reflectors; 4th Order (as of 1901)
Foghorn: None
Historical Information:
- Congress appropriated $5,000 for a lighthouse "at or between the mouth of the Grand River in Ohio, and the mouth of the Ohio River in Ohio" on 3 March 1819. An additional $5,000 was appropriated by Congress the following year to cover added expenses.
- Established in 1821.
- Oldest light in the state of Ohio, second oldest in Lake Erie, and the third oldest on the Great Lakes.
- Stephen Pleasonton, Auditor of the U.S. Treasury, visited Rocky Point in 1821 and selected the site. He negotiated the sale of the land, almost four acres total, for $300 from the estate of Epaphras W. Bull.
- A contract for the construction of the light and a keeper's dwelling was entered into with Stephen Woolverton. Woolverton subcontracted the actual construction to William Kelly. The cost was $6,520.
- The tower was built of native limestone, the light's base is 25 feet in diameter and its walls are five feet thick.
- The original lighting apparatus was 13 Argand whale oil lamps with 16-inch reflectors.
- The first keeper was Benajah Wolcott who took command on 17 June 1822. He was the first American settle on the Marblehead Peninsula. His wife, Rachael, took over his duties when he died in 1832. When she remarried, her new husband, Jeremiah Benschooter, became the keeper. He tended the light until 1842.
- The next keeper was tavern-owner Colonel Charles F. Drake, who was described in a newspaper article as a "pompous individual. . .[and a] very eccentric gentleman of the old school."
- It was originally called the Sandusky Bay Light until 1870.
- The lighting apparatus was changed in 1858 to a Fourth Order Fresnel lens.
- Tower was increased in height by 15-feet in 1897.
- The lantern room was replaced with one taken from the Erie, Pennsylvania main light.
- A Fourth Order bi-valve lens was installed along with a clockwork mechanism.
- Light was electrified in 1923.
- In 1939 the light was a "sub-unit" of the nearby Marblehead Lifeboat Station and was manned by personnel attached to that unit.
- The light was automated in 1958.
- The Fresnel lens was removed in 1972 and replaced with a 300 mm green flashing light.
- Currently an active aid to navigation but the property and lighthouse are now owned by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
- The Keeper's House serves as the Marblehead Lighthouse Historical Society Museum.
Keepers:
Benajah Wolcott: 17 June 1822-1832
Rachael Wolcott: 1832-?
Jeremiah Benschooter: ?-1842
Col. Charles F. Drake: 1842-29 May 1849
Capt. Lodavick Brown: 1849-1853
Jared B. Keyes: 28 April 1853-1859
D. L. Dayton: 1 February 1859-1861
Thomas Dyer: 29 March 1861-1865
Russell Douglas (or Douglass): 12 December 1865-1872
Thomas J. Keyes: 27 August 1872-1873
George H. McKee: 15 August 1873-1903?
Capt. Charles Hunter: 1903-1933
Edward Herman (Assistant Keeper): 1913-1933
Edward Herman (Keeper): 1933-11 May 1943 (resigned but "continued to care for the light until the Coast Guard took over in the summer of 1943.")
Photographs:
Marblehead Light, 1897: (75 dpi) ; (300 dpi) ; original caption: "MARBLEHEAD, O. Light Station, October '97"; photo dated October 1897; no photo number; photographer unknown.
Marblehead Keepers Quarters, 1904: (75 dpi) ; (300 dpi); original caption: "LT STA, OHIO 9th CG. DISTRICT [;] Keeper's dwelling and out buildings."; photo dated May, 1904; Photo No. 67; photographer unknown.
Marblehead Light, 1911: (75 dpi) ; (300 dpi); original caption: "MARBLEHEAD, OHIO NINTH NAVAL DISTRICT (CLEVELAND) Looking N 100 ft."; photo dated June, 1911; Photo No. 55; photographer unknown.
Marblehead Light, 1936: (75 dpi) ; original caption: "Office of the Superintendent of Lighthouses Tenth District Buffalo, N.Y. Lighthouse Marblehead Ohio."; photo dated July, 1936; Photo No. 1436, #1; photographer unknown.
Marblehead Light, 1955: (75 dpi) ; (300 dpi); original caption: "Marblehead Light (Built 1821) (Rebuilt 1881)."; photo dated 20 April 1955; Photo No. 4/20/55 (1); photographer unknown.
MAUMEE BAY RANGE LIGHTS
Photographs:
PORT CLINTON LIGHT
Location: On the outer end of the west pier at the entrance to the harbor of Port Clinton
Station Established: 1833
Year Current Tower: First Lit: 1896
Operational: No
Automated: N/A
Deactivated: 1927
Foundation Materials: Stone
Construction Materials: Wood
Tower Shape: 4-sided pyramidal
Tower Height: 25-2/3 feet above lake level
Markings/Pattern: White with brown foundation; black lantern roof
Characteristic: Fixed red
Relationship to Other Structure: Separate
Original Lens: Lens lantern (as of 1901)
Foghorn: None
Photographs:
Port Clinton Light, 1904: (75 dpi) ; (300 dpi); original caption: "PORT CLINTON LIGHTSTATION, 1904 NINTH NAVAL DISTRICT (CLEVELAND)."; photo dated 1904; no photo number; photographer unknown.
SANDUSKY BAY RANGE LIGHTS
Photographs:
SANDUSKY PIERHEAD LIGHT
Photographs:
SOUTH BASS ISLAND LIGHT
SOUTH BASS ISLAND/WESTERN LAKE ERIE
Station Established: 1897
Year Current Tower(s) First Lit: 1897
Operational? NO
Automated? YES
Deactivated: 1962
Foundation Materials: BRICK
Construction Materials: BRICK
Tower Shape: SQUARE W/OCTAGONAL LANTERN
Markings/Pattern: RED BRICK W/WHITE LANTERN
Relationship to Other Structure: ATTACHED
Original Lens: FOURTH ORDER
Historical Information:
Keepers:
1897-1899: Harry H. Riley
1899-1900: Enoch W. Scribner
1900-1908: Colonel J. (Orlo) Mason
1908-1925: Charles B. Duggan
1925-1926: Lyle Duggan
1926-1939: Captain William L. Gordon
1939-1941: Frank LaRose
1941-1944: Robert Jones
1944-1947: Kenneth Nester
1947-1962: Paul F. Prochnow
Photographs:
TOLEDO HARBOR LIGHT
MAUMEE RIVER/MAUMEE BAY/LAKE ERIE
Station Established: 1904
Year Current Tower(s) First Lit: 1904
Operational? YES
Automated? YES 1965
Deactivated: n/a
Foundation Materials: STONE/CONCRETE PIER ON CRIB
Construction Materials: BRICK/STEEL
Tower Shape: CONICAL
Markings/Pattern: DARK TOWER ON BUFF ROMANESQUE DWELLING
Relationship to Other Structure: INTEGRAL
Original Lens: THIRD AND HALF ORDER 1904
Photographs:
WEST SISTER ISLAND LIGHT
MAUMEE BAY ENTRANCE/WEST END LAKE ERIE
Station Established: 1821
Year Current Tower(s) First Lit: 1848
Operational? YES
Automated? YES 1937
Deactivated: n/a
Foundation Materials: STONE
Construction Materials: LIMESTONE/BRICK
Tower Shape: CONICAL W/OUT LANTERN
Markings/Pattern: WHITE W/BLACK BALCONY
Relationship to Other Structure: SEPARATE
Original Lens: FOURTH ORDER 1848
Photographs:
WEST SISTER ISLAND LIGHT TOWER & DWELLING
WEST SISTER ISLAND LIGHT TOWER
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