Marblehead Lighthouse - Revisited

This past Saturday my husband and I made the trip out to Marblehead, Ohio. The Marblehead Lighthouse Festival was in full swing and the lighthouse was open for tours.

I had previously posted about Marblehead and the area around it. A small lakeside area that is full of beautiful homes, expansive views, fresh air and all forms of water related recreation. Each time we go out there I start thinking that maybe I will choose to retire there instead of some of the more publicized locations.

In the literature that was given out at the festival there is a brief history of the area. Quite amazing.

In 1819, the fifteenth US Congress recognized the need for navigational aides along the Great Lakes, and set aside $5,000 for construction of a light tower at the entrance to Sandusky Bay. Contractor William Kelly built the 50-foot tower of native limestone on the tip of the Marblehead Peninsula. The base of the tower is 25 feet in diameter, with walls five feet thick. It narrows to twelve feet at the top with two-foot thick walls.

Through history, fifteen lighthouse keepers, two of whom were women, have tended the beacon. The first keeper was Benajah Wolcott, a Revolutionary War veteran and one of the first settlers on the peninsula. He and his family lived in a small stone home on the Sandusky Bay side of the peninsula. Each night he lit the wicks of the thirteen whale oil lamps that were the original light fixture. Sixteen inch diameter metal reflectors helped project the light across the lake. Other duties of the lighthouse keeper included keeping a log of passing ships, noting the weather conditions, and organizing rescue efforts.

Upon Wolcott's death in 1832, his wife Rachel took over these duties. The whale oil lamps were replaced in 1858 by the light from a single kerosene lantern magnified by a Fresnel lens. This specialized, curved glass lens created a highly visible, fixed white light. A lifesaving station was built one-half mile west of the lighthouse in 1876. Lucien Clemons, who with his two brothers, saved two sailors from a shipwreck off the peninsula on May 1, 1875, was named the first commander. In 1880, the lighthouse keeper's household moved to a wooden frame home in a more convenient location next to the lighthouse.

If you would like to learn more about Marblehead Lighthouse, East Harbor State Park or any of Ohio's wonderful parks and landmarks, please visit Ohio State Parks online.

Here are some photos taken on 10/13/2007. Some folks were getting one last run on the boat in before Ol' Man Winter comes calling...