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In the ongoing “Great Lighthouse Giveaway,” all in one day, the General Services Administration (GSA) recently declared seven Great Lakes Lighthouses as excess property and under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act is giving them away for free to any qualified applicant.
The seven lighthouses are Algoma Pierhead and Milwaukee Pierhead in Wisconsin, and Lansing Shoal, White Shoal, Spectacle Reef, Gravelly Shoal, and the Keweenaw Waterway Lower Entrance in Michigan. However, because of their remote locations, and the overall expense, the GSA may have trouble finding nonprofits or other government entities willing to take over the responsibility of some of these lighthouses.
Additionally, four of the lighthouses, Lansing Shoal, White Shoal, Gravelly Shoal, and Spectacle Reef, occupy Great Lakes Public Trust bottomlands owned by the State of Michigan, and a private use agreement is required by the state for occupied bottom lands. The other three lighthouses - Milwaukee Pierhead, Algoma Pierhead, and Keweenaw Waterway Lower Entrance Light rest upon piers owned by the Army Corp of Engineers and permission must be obtained from them for access to the lighthouses and whatever its utilization might be designated for.
If no qualified applicant applies for these lighthouses and are subsequently approved by GSA, they will eventually be auctioned off to the highest bidder.
ALGOMA PIERHEAD LIGHTHOUSE - The Algoma Pierhead Lighthouse was established in 1893 as a wooden structure at the end of the pier in Algoma, Wisconsin. The wooden Algoma Pierhead Lighthouse was demolished in 1908 in favor of a round cast iron tower, typical of others on the Great Lakes. Tragedy struck the lighthouse on February 3, 1913 when lighthouse keeper Gustavus Umberham lost his life when he was thrown overboard after a rogue wave struck a boat that he was on. In 1932 the lighthouse was hoisted to the top of a 12-foot steel cylindrical base that increased the height of the tower. It was automated in 1973. The City of Algoma, which has the lighthouse on their welcome sign and on the arm patch of its police force, is considering the expense involved in applying for ownership of the lighthouse.
LANSING SHOAL LIGHTHOUSE - The Lansing Shoal Lighthouse was built in 1928 offshore in the Western Straits of Mackinac on Lake Michigan to replace a lightship that had previously been stationed at this location. Sometimes referred to as Lansing Shoals Lighthouse, it was first lighted on the evening of September 25, 1928. It was automated in 1976 and its Fresnel lens was removed from the tower and eventually put on display at the Michigan State Historical Museum in Lansing. On September 9, 1993, the 1000-foot ore carrier Indiana Harbor struck the northwest side of the Lansing Shoal Lighthouse with its bow and starboard side and then came to rest on the ledge just north of the light. Although the damage to the lighthouse was assessed at a little over $100,000, the damage to the ore carrier was $1.9 million.
MILWAUKEE PIERHEAD LIGHTHOUSE - The Milwaukee Pierhead Lighthouse, a conical cast iron tower, was built in 1906 to replace an earlier structure. The first lighthouse here dates back to 1852 and at one time there were two lighthouses, one on the outer end of the pier and the other on the inner end of the pier. At one time the Milwaukee Pierhead Lighthouse was painted white; it is now painted red. In 2013 the nearby Milwaukee Breakwater Lighthouse was given to a nonprofit group called Optima Enrichment; perhaps they might also be interested in the pierhead tower.
GRAVELLY SHOAL LIGHTHOUSE - The Gravelly Shoal Lighthouse in Saginaw Bay, Michigan was built with funds from the Public Works Administration (PWA) and was put into service in October of 1939. The tower itself was made by the Wickes Boiler Company of Saginaw, Michigan and the installation contract was awarded to John C. Meagher of Bay City who, for posterity, took photos of the lighthouse reaching its final destination.
The Gravelly Shoal Lighthouse was built as a completely automated lighthouse and was never staffed. Later a large steel tower was erected atop the lighthouse for a radio beacon transmitter. It will be interesting to see if anyone steps forward to secure ownership of this lighthouse.
KEWEENAW WATERWAY LOWER ENTRANCE LIGHTHOUSE - The Keweenaw Waterway Lower Entrance Lighthouse is located at the entrance to the Portage River on the east pier of the entrance to the Portage Ship Canal on Lake Superior by Jacobsville, Michigan, in an area that is rich in lighthouse history. Built in 1920 to replace an earlier lighthouse, it is also known as the Portage River Lower Entrance Lighthouse and the Keweenaw Waterway Lighthouse. The lighthouse was not designed for living quarters; the keepers lived in a house on the mainland. Coastguardsman Donald Nelson, who was stationed there in the mid-1950s, recalled to Lighthouse Digest in 2001, “It was probably the hardest working light station for three guys in the system, as we also maintained 15 canal beacons and 2 range light sets. There was no boredom at this light station. But, I really enjoyed the years that I served there even though it seems somewhat isolated 16 miles from town.”
SPECTACLE REEF LIGHTHOUSE - The building of Spectacle Reef Lighthouse in 1874 in Lake Huron near Cheboygan, Michigan was considered one of the greatest engineering feats of its time. It took more than 200 men working for four years to complete the structure.
Tragedy struck the lighthouse on April 15, 1883 when head keeper William A. Marshall departed in a boat for the lighthouse to open it for the season. Along with him was his son James Marshall who was the 2nd acting assistant keeper, William Marshall’s brother, Walter Marshall, who was the newly appointed 3rd assistant keeper; and Edward Chambers, the 1st assistant keeper. Along for the ride were friends of James Marshall, 16-year old Joseph Cardran and his 13-year old brother Alfred Cardran. (Some written accounts claim that the Cardran brothers were in a different boat and other reports had their last named spelled as Cadreau.)
At some point the boat capsized and threw all of them into the icy cold water. The Cardran brothers, both young excellent swimmers, assisted, with some difficulty, William and Walter, who apparently couldn’t swim, to safety. Then Joseph Cardran dove back into the water and rescued Edward Chambers. However, in the chaos, James C. Marshall was not found and he drowned. In a public ceremony over a year later, on June 7, 1884, the federal government awarded the Gold Life Saving Medals to the Cardran brothers. However, George Dewey, of the U.S. Light House Board, informed the keepers that the Board did not have any funds to reimburse the keepers for any loss of personal effects or rations, but would, with the proper paperwork, recommend to Congress that they be reimbursed.
When Joseph Cardran turned 18, he joined the Lighthouse Service as a 3rd assistant keeper at Spectacle Reef Lighthouse, but he resigned after seven months. Five years later, on June 17, 1889, Alfred Cardran also joined the Lighthouse Service as a 3rd assistant keeper at Spectacle Reef, but he also eventually also resigned. Perhaps the isolation of a remote lighthouse was not as exciting as the young men had hoped for.
On May 15, 1896 William Marshall left Spectacle Reef Lighthouse to become the first keeper at Michigan’s Round Island Lighthouse. A few years later, his brother Walter, on April 1, 1910, became the head lighthouse keeper at Spectacle Reef Lighthouse, a position he held until August 9, 1910 when he was transferred to another lighthouse.
After many years of being a staffed lighthouse station, Spectacle Reef Lighthouse was automated in 1972 and its 2nd order Fresnel lens was removed from the tower and it is now on display at the Inland Seas Maritime Museum in Toledo, Ohio, which was previously located in Vermillion, Ohio.
On June 17, 1995 the Spectacle Reef Lighthouse was honored as one of the five Great Lakes lighthouses to appear on a 32-cent postage stamp in an elaborate and festive First Day of Issue ceremony attended by thousands of people in Cheboygan, Michigan.
WHITE SHOAL LIGHTHOUSE - Michigan’s White Shoal Lighthouse, located west of the Straits of Mackinac in Lake Michigan with its spiraling red stripes is without doubt one of the most distinctive towers on the Great Lakes. Sometimes, and incorrectly, referred to as White Shoals Lighthouse, it was first lighted on September 1, 1910 by lighthouse Keeper James M. Marshall of the noted Marshall family of lighthouse keepers. James M. Marshall was the adopted son of George Marshall, the first keeper of Mackinac Point Lighthouse, who was one of the lighthouse keeper sons of William Marshall.
Interestingly, after only less than three months of being the first head keeper at White Shoal Lighthouse, James M. Marshall, who had previously served at the Muskegon lighthouses and at Waugoshance Lighthouse, was demoted and transferred. However, James M. Marshall later returned to White Shoal in 1912 as the 1st assistant keeper and then again became the head keeper on December 1, 1914 and served there until 1919 when he was transferred to become the head keeper at Mackinac Point Lighthouse where his father had previously been the keeper. He served there until 1941 when he had a stroke.
The keepers lived inside the nine story tower. Two bedrooms were on the 4th floor and the other was on the fifth floor along with a sitting room. The kitchen and living room were on the 3rd floor.
Veteran lighthouse keeper George Keller (1898-1989) arrived at White Shoal Lighthouse on June 1, 1930 as the first assistant keeper, having started his lighthouse service career as the 2nd assistant at Wisconsin’s Racine Reef Lighthouse in 1918. This was followed by two years at Squaw Island Lighthouse before he came to White Shoal. Keller, who eventually became head keeper at White Shoal, spent 16 years there until his retirement on August 31, 1946.
Keller had plenty of memories of life at White Shoal saying, “Work, work, work - that was the workhouse of the Great Lakes. You’re like a prisoner. You didn’t feel like a free man.” He recalled that it was especially hard work in the days before electricity reached the lighthouse, especially cleaning the big brass lamps. There was also the constant scraping, sanding, and painting.
The bad storms were always a challenge. In recalling the Armistice Day Storm of November 11, 1940, he said, “The seas were 25 maybe 35 feet high and 70 feet wide. When the waves hit the deck over the crib, the structure would shake, utensils fell off the stove, and water would leak in everywhere. After the three day blow, I figured we must have had 500 tons of ice on the structure.” Keller recalled that it took two days for him and the only other crewman at the lighthouse at that time to chip through the ice just to get the boat launched and get back to civilization. He was never so thankful to get off the lighthouse as he was on that day.
Keller said the crew worked two weeks on the light and two weeks off, and he was always glad to get home to his six-member family farm on the mainland. In recalling lighthouse life, he said, “It was a really thrilling life. We were always on guard for wrecks, people adrift and people disabled on a rock, a reef or a shoal.” He went on say, “I didn’t make much money, but by golly we didn’t starve anyway. So it wasn’t such a bad life,” but he said that he never had a desire to go back like some lighthouse keepers did after they retired. In fact, when he retired after 28-years as a lighthouse keeper, it took him a couple of years before he would even go back near the water.
Over the years the color scheme at White Shoal Lighthouse has changed several times. It was originally white ceramic tiles, after which, from 1927 to 1937, the tower was painted all black with a gray lantern room. Then it was painted a grayish-white and remained so until 1954 when the Coast Guard painted it with a red and white barber-pole style of spiraling stripes which suddenly made the lighthouse jump into the celebrity status that it enjoys today.
Although the lighthouse was automated in 1976 and its keepers were removed at that time, it wasn’t until 1987 that the magnificent 2nd order bi-valve lens made by Barbier, Benard & Turenne was removed from the lighthouse. The lens is now on display at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Michigan’s Whitefish Point Lighthouse.
This story appeared in the
Jul/Aug 2014 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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