Light Hearted

July 30, 2022

A lighthouse was established at Stony Point at the eastern end of Lake Ontario in New York in 1838. One of the most notable things about the original lighthouse was its first keeper, Wiley Gilbert Nickles, who held the position for 30 years. Nickles had lost both his hands in an accident at the age of 19, but he performed his light keeping duties with the help of his wife and children. The lighthouse was rebuilt in 1869, with a square stone tower attached to the keeper’s house.

The last keeper left the light station in 1946 and the light was automated a short time later. In 1959, the navigational light in the lighthouse was discontinued when an automatic light on a steel skeleton tower was installed closer to the shore. The light station property was auctioned to a private owner in 1960. In 1966, the lighthouse narrowly escaped disaster when a fire started in a nearby barn.

In 2002, the lighthouse was purchased by Sherry and Willy Faust of New Jersey, and they have completed much restoration since then.

July 23, 2022

In 1890, the Lighthouse Board recommended a lighthouse at Forty Mile Point, on the northeast coast of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. The primary reason for the light was so that as mariners traveled along the western part of Lake Huron between Mackinaw Point and the Saint Clair River, they would never be out of viewing range of a lighthouse. The name of Forty Mile Point stems from the fact that its location is 40 miles southeast of Mackinaw Point. The light station began service in 1897, with a square tower centered on the lake-facing side of a duplex keepers’ house.

The station was automated and de-staffed in 1969. Two years later, the property was deeded to Presque Isle County, except for the lighthouse building itself. Finally, in 1998, the lighthouse was transferred to the county. Since then, the county and the Forty Mile Point Lighthouse Society have been working to restore the entire site. The park is open year-round to the public. One apartment in the lighthouse is occupied by a full-time caretaker; the other apartment is now a nautical museum staffed by volunteers. Pat Williams is the vice president of the Forty Mile Point Lighthouse Society, and Eric Klein is the resident caretaker at the light station.

July 16, 2022

Plum Island, a nine-mile long barrier island off the northern coast of Massachusetts, was first connected to the mainland by bridge in 1806. Newburyport was an important port by the late 1700s. The approach to the harbor was dangerous, with a sand bar and shifting channels at the mouth of the Merrimack River, near the northern end of Plum Island. To aid shipping entering the river, in November 1787 the General Court of Massachusetts authorized the building of two small wooden lighthouses. The lights would be an early example of range lights, meaning mariners would keep one light lined up behind the other as they proceeded in the correct channel. The two lighthouses, which began operation in 1788, had to be moved often as the channel shifted.

In 1898, a new 45-foot conical, shingled wooden lighthouse was built. It remains an active aid to navigation. The lighthouse is now cared for by the Friends of Plum Island Light, a nonprofit organization formed in the 1990s. In 2003, ownership of the lighthouse was turned over to the city of Newburyport. The Friends of Plum Island Light continue to care for it under a lease agreement with the city.

Roslin Esposito is a longtime resident of Plum Island and volunteer for the Friends. And Jenn Bogard, a descendant of Plum Island lighthouse keeper Arthur Woods, is the secretary of the Friends and she serves on the board of directors of Newburyport’s Custom House Maritime Museum. She’s also an author. Bill Cooper, a retired mechanical engineer with General Electric, has been a summer resident of Plum Island for more than 60 years and has led the Friends of Plum Island Light’s preservation projects in recent years.

July 9, 2022

The development of Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula, which juts about 60 miles north from the Upper Peninsula into Lake Superior, was based mostly on copper mining. Increased maritime traffic related to the copper industry led to the establishment of Eagle River Lighthouse on the northwest part of the peninsula in 1858. Local maritime traffic decreased and the lighthouse was deactivated in 1908. Meanwhile, there was a call for a lighthouse and fog signal at a location known as Sand Hills a few miles to the southwest. The station established in 1919 at Sand Hills consisted of a buff-colored brick dwelling with a square tower mounted on top, with a light 91 feet above lake level. The light was discontinued in 1954 and was sold at auction to H. Donald Bliss, who used it as a summer home for a few years.

A subsequent owner, Bill Frabotta, renovated the property and opened it as the Sand Hills Lighthouse Inn in 1995. Historic preservationist Bud Cole purchased the property in 2014. After a thorough restoration, he began offering it as a vacation rental with three bedrooms and 3000 square feet of living space. Bud Cole also bought Sand Hills Lighthouse in 2019. His sister, Jan Cole, manages the lighthouse properties at Eagle River and Sand Hills.

Jane and Jean Gertz’s father, Maxwell Gertz, was a keeper in the 1940s and ‘50s at Manitou Island and Sand Hills, Michigan. The Gertz sisters have stayed involved with lighthouses as volunteers for the Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association.

Special thanks to Nick Korstad for his help with this episode.

July 2, 2022

Whitefish Point, near the eastern end of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, is a critical turning point for maritime traffic entering Lake Superior. The point marks the eastern end of a notorious 80-mile stretch of shoreline that’s known as Lake Superior’s Shipwreck Coast. Of 550 known major shipwrecks in the vicinity, at least 200 have been near Whitefish Point. Probably the most famous was the 1975 loss of the steamer Edmund Fitzgerald and its crew of 29, just 17 miles north-northwest of Whitefish Point.

Whitefish Point Light Station was established in 1849 and is the oldest operating lighthouse on the lake. The present skeletal-style lighthouse tower replaced the original stone tower in 1861. The 78-foot-tall cast-iron tower has four levels of bracing around a central cylindrical shaft.

The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at the Whitefish Point Light Station has become one of Michigan’s most popular destinations, attracting over 75,000 visitors each season. Bruce Lynn has been the executive director of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum since 2013.

Mike Vogel retired as editorial page editor of The Buffalo News in 2011, after a 41-year journalism career that included three decades as a reporter and feature writer. Mike was the organizer and founding president of the Buffalo Lighthouse Association, which began restoration of Buffalo, New York’s historic 1833 lighthouse in 1985. Mike’s work at the local level soon led to efforts for the national lighthouse preservation movement. After launching and completing the first compilation of surviving American Fresnel lenses, he served on the National Lighthouse Museum steering committee and its site selection committee.

Mike was elected as the first First Vice President of the American Lighthouse Coordinating Committee, and then was elected to the ALCC presidency. Mike is also the author or co-author of five books on maritime history as well as Buffalo and Niagara Falls local history, including Harboring History: The Heritage Behind Buffalo’s 200-Year-Old Overnight Success.

In 2007, the U.S. Lighthouse Society honored Mike with its prestigious F. Ross Holland Award recognizing his exceptional contributions to lighthouse preservation. Mike is a longtime board member and has been president of the U.S. Lighthouse Society since 2020.

Thanks to Jim Malone and John Hopp for all their help with the trip to New York.

There are two interviews related to Michigan lighthouses in this episode, plus a special “Be a Lighthouse” segment for Father’s Day, with co-host Sarah MacHugh interviewing her father about his company, Adaptive Design Hudson River.

The Straits of Mackinac, which connect Lake Michigan and Lake Huron and also mark the dividing line between Michigan’s Upper and Lower peninsulas, were treacherous for mariners. The first lighthouse in the area was established in 1829. Mackinac Point, at the northern tip of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, was given a fog signal in 1890. A 50-foot-tall lighthouse was added to the station in 1892, built of cream city brick and attached to the keepers’ house.

The construction of the Mackinac Bridge in 1957 rendered the lighthouse obsolete. The lighthouse property was purchased by the Mackinac Island State Park Commission in 1960, and it was incorporated into a state park. Today, the light station is open to the public from late spring to fall, with a maritime museum in the keepers’ house. Craig Wilson is the chief curator for Mackinac State Historic Parks.

Eagle Harbor Light is one of several light stations that guide mariners on Lake Superior across the northern edge of the Keweenaw Peninsula. The original lighthouse, built in 1851, was replaced in 1871 by the present red brick structure. In 1999, Congress transferred ownership of the Eagle Harbor Light Station to the Keweenaw County Historical Society. The U.S. Coast Guard continues to operate the light at the top of the tower as an active navigational aid.

Karen Hintz is the vice president of the Keweenaw County Historical Society.

Sailors’ Snug Harbor is a collection of nineteenth-century buildings on the north shore of Staten Island in New York City.  It was founded as a retirement home for sailors using funds bequeathed by Captain Robert Richard Randall when he died in 1801. Sailors’ Snug Harbor opened in 1833 and expanded over the years to more than 50 buildings. It was said to be the richest charitable institution in the United States with farms, a dairy, a bakery, a chapel, a hospital, a concert hall, recreation areas, and more.

The sailors’ home relocated in the 1970s and the not-for-profit Snug Harbor Cultural Center was formed in 1975 to operate the buildings, and the Staten Island Botanical Gardens managed the gardens. The two organizations merged in 2008 to form Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden. The cultural center includes the Staten Island Botanical Garden, the Staten Island Children’s Museum, the Staten Island Museum, the Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, and the Noble Maritime Collection, as well as an Art Lab and Music Hall. Sailors’ Snug Harbor today consists of 26 buildings including “Temple Row,” five interlocking Greek Revival buildings. The grounds also include a chapel and a sailors’ cemetery.

Bruce Weir is a descendant of sailors, sea captains, and military veterans with an interest in maritime and military history and genealogy. He’s devoted himself to researching the history of Sailors Snug Harbor.

Click here to see a video on Sailors’ Snug Harbor from WLIW-TV

The city of Marquette, Michigan, is a major port on Lake Superior that’s known primarily for the shipping of iron ore. In the mid-1800s, Marquette’s railroad links to numerous mines made it the leading shipping port of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. It also became a popular summer destination with steamships bringing passengers who filled the city’s hotels and resorts.

Marquette’s first lighthouse, a stone tower built in 1853, was poorly built and it had to be replaced in 1866 by the structure that still stands today. It’s a one-and-one-half story brick building with an attached 40-foot-tall lighthouse tower. In 2002, the Coast Guard leased the building to the Marquette Maritime Museum. In 2016, ownership was conveyed to the City of Marquette.

Frederick Stonehouse  has authored over thirty books on maritime history, many of them focusing on the Great Lakes, and he’s also president of the Marquette Maritime Museum. Hilary Billman is the director of the Marquette Maritime Museum. Kurt Fosburg is a professional lampist and also vice president of the maritime museum. Also taking part in the discussion is Nick Korstad, owner of the Big Bay Point Lighthouse B&B near Marquette.

Two interviews are featured in this episode, concerning Seul Choix Point Light Station in Michigan and Duluth South Breakwater Inner Light in Minnesota.

Located at the northwest corner of Lake Michigan, Seul Choix Bay got its name for the French phrase meaning “only choice.” The bay was a popular place of refuge for early French traders in the area. A 79-foot-tall brick lighthouse with a fixed third-order Fresnel lens began service at Seul Choix Point in 1895, along with a steam-operated diaphone fog signal.

Today, the light station is operated by the Gulliver Historical Society, in cooperation with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Division. It’s open to the public with tours available in season, Memorial Day weekend to the end of September. Marilyn Fisher was instrumental in the founding of the Gulliver Historical Society and she’s been the Society’s president for 34 years. She’s also the author of 12 books including a continuing series beginning with Spirits at Seul Choix Pointe: True Lighthouse Stories.

The original configuration of the breakwaters in Duluth, Minnesota, featured a light on the south side of the entrance from Lake Superior, established shortly after a canal was constructed in 1874. A light was added to the inner end of the breakwater in 1889. Reconstruction of the canal led to the replacements of both lights around 1900. Duluth South Breakwater Inner Lighthouse stands near a lift bridge on the south breakwater of the Duluth Ship Canal. It forms a range with the Duluth South Breakwater Outer Light to guide ships into the canal from Lake Superior. The current 67-foot-tall skeletal cast-iron tower began service in 1901.

The light remains an active aid to navigation. In 2008 the property