Lake Erie Lights

A visit to northwestern Ohio would not be complete without a trip to the lakeshore. You know what that means, don’t you? Another Great Lake with new lighthouses to explore! We headed to Marblehead Lighthouse State Park to do just that.

Marblehead Lighthouse is the oldest, continuously operational lighthouse on the Great Lakes. Since 1822 it has stood at the tip of the rocky shores of Marblehead Peninsula, a narrow finger of land which juts into Lake Erie. At the base of the lighthouse and at other locations along the peninsula coast, horizontal benches of limestone bedrock were exposed by the glaciers and made the craggy shoreline particularly dangerous to sailors. In 1819, Congress recognized the need to assist the safe travels of vessels through Lake Erie’s nor’easters and the cluster of small islands on its southern coast. A total of $5,000 was earmarked for construction of a light tower at Bay Point, Ohio.

Contractor William Kelly constructed the 50-foot conical tower from the native limestone. The lighthouse cost $7,232 to build and was the only navigational aid in the Sandusky Bay region for many years; in fact, the tower was called the Sandusky Bay Light until 1870. Its first beacon consisted of 13 small whale oil lamps and a set of 16-inch-diameter reflectors.

Throughout its history, fifteen lighthouse keepers, two of whom were women, have tended its beacon. In addition to lighting the wicks of the oil lamps each night, their other duties included maintaining a log of passing ships, noting weather conditions and organizing rescue efforts.

The oil lamps were replaced in 1858 by a single kerosene lantern magnified by a fourth-order Fresnel lens and finally modernized with an electric light in 1923. Today’s 300 mm plastic lens projects a green signal that flashes every six seconds and is visible for eleven nautical miles.

The last lighthouse keeper resigned in 1946, at which time the U.S. Coast Guard assumed responsibility; the beacon was eventually automated 12 years later. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has maintained the property surrounding the lighthouse since 1972 and accepted ownership of the tower in 1998 as Ohio’s 73rd state park. The Coast Guard continues to operate and maintain its beacon.

During the summer between Memorial Day and Labor Day, tours of the lighthouse are offered on weekdays and the second Saturday of the month. We were just a wee bit ahead of the season and unable to climb the tower’s spiral staircase. With my fear of heights, that’s probably a good thing. Nonetheless, we were content to take in the exterior beauty of Marblehead Lighthouse and that of the surrounding bay.

A great introduction to the lights of Lake Erie!