Rock Island - A Thousand Islands jewel

Vessels making their way out down the St. Lawrence River out of Lake Ontario were forced to pass through the narrows to the south of Wellesley Island. A number of small, rocky islands area arrayed across this narrow passage, which made the passage difficult in clear weather and virtually impossible at night or during overcast weather conditions. In order to mark the southerly limit of this channel, a lighthouse was established on Rock Island in 1847. This first Rock Island lighthouse exhibited a fixed light shown from a birdcage lantern centered on the apex of a small stone dwelling. While no photographs of the original lighthouse were ever taken, this old illustration matches the official description of the structure and provides a good idea of how it would have appeared.

The original 1847 Rock Island light station 

By 1875, the old Rock Island lighthouse was found to be in decrepit condition, and the Lighthouse Board issued a request to Congress for an appropriation of $14,000 to completely rebuild the station. Congress turned a deaf ear to repeated annual requests for funds, and it would not be until 1882 that this prefabricated iron tower was erected in the water a short distance from the old, decaying dwelling.

Rock Island light station after it was rebuilt in 1882

Finally in 1884, two years after the new tower was erected at Rock Island, sufficient funding was available to allow the much needed rebuilding of the decrepit forty year old dwelling. Using as much of the original foundation and materials as was practical to keep costs as low as possible, a beautiful Queen Anne style dwelling was erected on the island for the stations keeper. This undated photograph of the dwelling from the Coast Guard Historian's office was clearly taken from the gallery of the tower, which stood approximately from its veranda.

The new Rock Island light station dwelling as viewed from the tower gallery

Also in 1884, a small depot was established on the northeast end of Rock Island for the storage and repair of the many buoys used to mark the channel in that section of the river. With the addition of its large large timber dock, storage shed, crane, buoy car and tracks, much of the tiny island was now covered with buildings.

 The Rock Island buoy depot can be seen on the left side of the island

In 1902, the Rock Island boathouse was relocated onto this substantial timber and stone foundation. In order to provide sufficient depth for the keepers launch, the rock had to be blasted with dynamite before the foundation could be built. Also at this time, the concrete walkways were renewed connecting all the station buildings.

 

The boat house built at Rock Island in 1902

Rock Island light station as it appeared in a colorful postcard postmarked in 1912.

As part of our GLLKA lighthouse excursion in the Thousand Islands in September of 2012, a group of forty lighthouse aficionados boarded a large pontoon boat and took an early morning ride out to Rock Island to tour the light station. As you can see from this photo taken as we made our way toward the lighthouse dock, we were graced with a perfect Thousand Islands morning.

Rock Island light station in 2012

All the buildings at the Rock Island light station were undergoing restoration during our visit, as evident by this claw-foot bathtub sitting upside down on the floor of the station kitchen. The interior of the dwelling is beautiful, and has details reminiscent of the "Arts and Crafts" style.

The kitchen of the Rock Island light station as it appeared under restoration in 2012

While visiting the Rock Island light station our group was able to enter the tower, but a problem with some custom fabricated replacement stair components precluded out climbing the stairs themselves.

The GLLKA group lining up to view the interior of the tower

Because of the previously mentioned stair problems in the tower at Rock Island, we had to satisfy ourselves with this view up into the tower from the entrance level.

 

The view up the stairs in the Rock Island light station tower

With its dynamited slip and crib based walls, the boat house at the Rock Island light station is a wonderful example of early twentieth century field engineering and its excellent condition a real tribute to the workmanship of the 1902 construction crew..

 The Rock Island light station boat house in 2012

 I could have spent the whole day in the Rock Island light station boathouse. With its exposed timber frames, the details are incredible, and I would love to have had the opportunity to climb those stairs to the second floor to explore further.

 

 The interior of the Rock Island boat house

 I fell in love with these fifteen light uppers sashes in the windows at the Rock Island dwelling. The white building visible just outside is a square cast iron oil storage building which was erected at the upper end of the path to the tower in 1905. Its exterior restoration was complete, and it looked as good as the day it was erected.

 

The Arts and Crafts style windows in the Rock Island dwelling

With Rock Island being such a tiny and rocky location, we were quite surprised to see this relatively large area of grasses and greenery between the dwelling and the boathouse. What a great place this would be to sit and watch the world pass by.

 

There was a surprisingly large amount of open area at the center of the island

For our last post on the Rock Island light station, here is a photograph taken in the late evening on a prior GLLKA trip to the Thousand Islands area in October of 2010.

 

 Sunset over Rock Island light station

Rescuing the Sand Point lighthouse in Escanaba

With the completion of the Peninsula Railroad in 1864, which linked Escanaba to the iron mines of Negaunee, and the subsequent construction of ore docks in the harbor, it was clear that Escanaba was destined to become Lake Michigan's premier ore shipping port.

 

Whalbacks tied up at the Escanaba ore docks

With the boom on at Escanaba, the Lighthouse Board began recommending a Congressional appropriation to establish a light on a peninsula to the south of the growing harbor in 1856. Appropriately known as Sand Point, it was clear that a light at this point would serve double duty - both helping mariners locate the entry into Little Bay De Noc and back out into the open waters of Lake Michigan.

 Chart of the west coast of Little Bay De Noquette showing Sand Point

 Congress finally made an appropriation of $1,000 to secure a tract of land on Sand Point in 1864, and then followed-up with a second appropriation of $9,000 to build the the lighthouse in 1867. Construction of the oft-repeated "schoolhouse style" lighthouse was completed late that year, and its light officially exhibited at the opening of the navigation season on May 13, 1868.

 

Sand Point lighthouse as it appeared circa 1890

In order to assist mariners in locating Sand Point in thick weather, the Lighthouse Board requested an appropriation of $1,000 to install an automated fog bell at the station in 1890. While the request was repeated every year for the next nine years, no funds were forthcoming, so to meet the needs of mariners, the District Engineer shipped an old bell tower from Tail Point to Escanaba, and outfitted with a bell and striking mechanism which had been rendered obsolete by the installation of a steam fog signal at Muskegon, this fog bell was finally placed into service at Sand Point on May 1, 1900.

The fog bell at Sand Point. Note the lighthouse in the background

Sand Point lighthouse in a hand-colored postcard from 1911

On the night of June 5, 1940 this unimpressive structure known simply as the Escanaba Light was established in the water off Sand Point. Powered by a submarine electrical cable from the nearby shore, its 375mm lens stood 45 feet above water and was visible for a distance of 14 miles in clear weather. The image to the left shows the Escanaba light as it appeared soon after construction and the image to the right shows the way it appears today.

The Escanaba crib light as it appeared soon after construction (left) and in 2012 (right)

With the construction of the new offshore Escanaba light, the old Sand Point light station no longer served any purpose as an aid to navigation. The Coast Guard removed the lantern and most of the tower and increased the square footage of the second floor by raising the roof to convert the building for use as a Coast Guard station, as shown in this circa 1960 postcard.

The lighthouse as it appeared after its conversion to serve as a Coast Guard station

With an electrically operated diaphragm horn operating in the new Escanaba light, the Fresnel lens at the Sand Point light was not the only artifact from the past to be removed. In 1941, the bell was removed from the grounds of Sand Point light station, and the old timber-frame bell tower was burned to the ground. While the event was reported in a number of newspapers, there were unfortunately no photographs of the burn published, so we will include another photo of the old lighthouse as it appeared subsequent to the Coast Guard remodeling.

 

 The lighthouse after removal of the upper tower and lantern

No longer needed to support its mission in the area, the Coast Guard made the decision to excess the aging Sand Point light station. Thankfully, the Delta County Historical Society stepped-up to take on its restoration. This photo from 1988 shows the lighthouse with its original roof line and historic window openings restored and the missing upper portion of the tower reconstructed, awaiting the eventual installation of a lantern.

The lighthouse with its original roof line and historic window openings restored

In 1989. the Delta County Historical Society received a replacement lantern which had reportedly served at the Poverty Island light station. After cleaning, restoration and painting, the lantern was hoisted to the top of the rebuilt tower and bolted in place. Due to the Society's diligence and hard work, the lighthouse was almost whole again.

Installing the restored lantern from Poverty Island

The photograph below was taken in 1990. The lantern was back on the tower, a Fourth Order Fresnel lens which was located in Menominee has been installed on its pedestal and the only exterior restoration remaining was a fresh coat of paint.

 

The new lantern and wall restoration underway 

Here is the view from the lantern of the San Point lighthouse, looking out into Little Bay de Noc towards Peninsula Point. To the left of the restored Fourth Order fixed Fresnel lens you can see the green and white Escanaba light which in 1940 rendered the Sand Point light station obsolete.

The view from the Sand Point lantern

Today, the Sand Point light station is completely restored as shown in this offshore photograph take in 2011. Included in the restoration is the boat house shown to the right, which was brought across the ice from the Squaw Point light station in 1914 for the use of the Sand Point keeper.

 Sand Point lighthouse from offshore during a GLLKA excursion in 2011

As our final shot of this series on the Sand Point light station, we present this photograph of the interior of the beautifully restored boat house and the lapstrake hulled double-ender sitting proudly on the boat car.

The interior of the Sand Point boat house

The Daboll trumpet at Pilot Island

In 1862, a Daboll patent trumpet fog signal was installed at the Port du Mort light station on Pilot Island off the northern tip of Wisconsin's Door Peninsula shown here.

 

The Port du Mort lighthouse on Wisconsin's Pilot Island

The trumpet at Port du Morts received its supply of compressed air from one of John Ericsson's unique caloric engines, one of which is shown in the illustration below.

 

One of Ericsson's groundbreaking Caloric engines

While there were a number of Daboll trumpets installed at lighthouses throughout the USA, perhaps the most unique installation was this single horsepower engine installed at the Beavertail light station in Narragansett Bay. Built in 1851, it was fueled by a combination of hay, oats and water.

 

Daboll's unique "oats and water" powered air compressor. 

Mamajuda lighthouse

The island that would eventually become known as Mamajuda appeared in this 1796 French map of the Detroit River, where it was listed as “Jones” Island. The title “island” is actually somewhat aggrandizing, as throughout modern history virtually all of its 25 acres have been located beneath the surface of the river with only varying amounts of low-lying wetlands protruding visibly above the surface.

 

1876 map  showing the location of Jones Island

The island eventually became known as Mammy Judy after an Indian woman by the same name who regularly camped on the island during the fishing season prior to 1807. Because the shallow island was located smack in the middle of the main shipping channel between Grosse Isle and Fighting Island, the Mammy Judy lighthouse was established on the southeast side of the island in 1849. Erected atop a grid-work of vertical piles driven into the river bed, the station was outfitted with 4 Lewis patent lamps with 14” diameter reflectors in a birdcage style lantern 35 feet above the water. This photograph shows the Mammy Judy lighthouse as it appeared circa 1852.

 

The original 1849 Mamajuda lighthouse

The cropped section of an 1876 chart of the Detroit River below shows the location of the Mammy Judy light station and graphically shows the danger largely submerged island would have represented to mariners making their way along the river, and the reason it was considered necessary to establish a lighthouse to mark the island's position in 1849.

 

1876 chart of the Detroit River showing the location of the Mamajuda lighthouse

With the exception of upgrading the Lewis lamps to a Sixth Order Fresnel lens in 1855, little maintenance appears to heave been undertaken at Mamajuda, and after only fifteen years it was evident that the pilings on which the lighthouse was erected were rotting badly and the lighthouse itself had deteriorated to the point that it was considered barely inhabitable. As such, the old lighthouse and foundation were demolished in 1866 and the new structure shown here erected to replace it.

The 1866 Mamajuda lighthouse

If the 1866 Mamajuda lighthouse appears familiar, it could well be because it was built as a twin to the Mission Point lighthouse which was established at the north end of the Mission Peninsula north of Traverse City four years later. This photo shows the Mission Point lighthouse as it appeared circa 1880.

The Mission Point light station was built to the same plan as Mamajuda

In order to better mark the down-bound channel from Grassy Island to Mamajuda, in 1892 the Lighthouse Board requested a Congressional appropriation of $1,500 to erect a front range light upstream of the island to range with the existing Mamajuda lighthouse. Congress approved the expenditure the following year, and the new timber structure in the river was completed and ready for lighting on July 16, 1894. This 1902 photo shows this structure and the elevated walkway which provided access for the keeper from his dwelling beneath the rear light.

The Mamajuda Front Range Light established in 1894

As a result of constant erosion from the wake of passing vessels, between 1900 and 1904 a number of changes were undertaken to improve the conditions on Mamajuda. Thousands of tons of rip-rap stone were transported to the island to elevate it further above the water. The old rear range lighthouse was transported across the river to serve as a dwelling for the keeper of the Grosse Isle light and a new rear range structure with a circular tower was erected on the improved ground on Mamajuda. This postcard from 1909 shows the structure as it was rebuilt in 1904 and gives a good sense of the improved living conditions which resulted.

The Mamajuda lighthouse as rebuilt in 1904

Over the years, the Detroit River was continually dredged to make a safe channel for increasingly larger vessels, and Mamajuda island became washed away, largely as a result of erosion by the bow waves of these huge vessels. Today, Mamajuda Island is largely covered by water, with only small portions of the island appearing above the water's surface during periods of lower water, and the resulting shoal area is now marked by the Mamajuda Shoal buoy.

This crop from Google Earth shows that Mamajuda Island is now virtually submerged.
However, the pilings which supported the old lighthouse can readily be seen beneath the water.

A May 2011 tour of Menagerie Island

We departed from Mott Island and headed toward Menagerie Island. The Ranger who piloted our small boat was unfamiliar with the waters around Menagerie, so the Ranger from Malone Bay came out to meet us, lead us into Malone Bay and then took over pilot duties on our small boat for the trip out to Menagerie.

 

 We were blessed with calm waters again on this day of our trip as you can plainly see in this photo taken as we approached Menagerie. The area in which we would "dock" the boat was nestled among the rocks right below the lighthouse.

 

 Here we make the final approach to the lighthouse. It was a good thing that the Ranger from Malone Bay was at the wheel, since there were a number of shallow, rocky areas that needed to be avoided during our approach.

 
After reaching the island, and positioning ourselves to land, the pilot cut back the throttles and raised the engine to allow us to slowly drift into this natural cut between the rocks. We were really fortunate for the weather conditions, since you can plainly see that any wave action would easily break over the the guard rocks to the right and smashing the boat against the surrounding rocks.

 

As is the case with mainland of Isle Royale itself, Menagerie is a thin island which lies from northeast to southwest. After climbing up the rocks, to the surface of the island, I decided to head off to the southwest end to check out the oil storage building.

The oil storage building still contains some components of the original shelving supports on which the standard oil butts were stored, along with a couple of empty 55-gallon drums.

 

One of the many gulls on the island had claimed the floor of the oil storage building as its nesting site in which it had laid two eggs. The gulls swooped down at our heads screaming at us whenever we approached their nests, with come of them attempting to hit us with liquid bombs. Fortunately, their aim was was imperfect!

 

 As I moved across to the east of the island, the character changed considerably as it is made up of a huge wall of rock which slopes down at an angle of about 30 degrees to disappear down into the water.

Moving toward the dwelling, a dark brown rusted iron acetylene storage cabinet box came into view against the side of the covered way which connects the tower to the dwelling. I had caught a glimpse of this cabinet on previous water views of the island, but it was good to finally be able to inspect it close-up.

 

While there are a couple of other remaining acetylene cabinets at lighthouses around the Great Lakes, this one is by far in the best condition of any I have seen to this point. As a result of the island's remote location and difficulty in making a landing in anything but the calmest weather, this lighthouse is one of the most vandalism free of all the "abandoned" lights I have yet visited. The cabinet even included the clamp straps behind the upper door which locked the three cylinders in place.

 

The front door of the lighthouse. Note the lichens on the stone, which cover virtually everything around the exterior of the station.

Entering the lighthouse, the stairs to the second floor double back to the right, a pair of angled doors in the rear lead into the three downstairs rooms, and the door to the right led into a service room and then the covered way to the tower.

 

This is room on the first floor appears to have served as the kitchen. Because the lighthouse was automated before the Coast Guard took over, the color scheme and interior wood details all survive from the Lighthouse Service era, not being painted over with the standard Coast Guard gray and white color scheme. The widows to the right face approximately east, and the door to the rear leads to the summer kitchen. The ladder is placed in front of the door for a good reason.

The entire floor of the summer kitchen collapsed as a result of significant water infiltration through the roof before a new roof was installed about ten years ago. Watch your step!

 Back into the main entry hall, I next headed up to the second floor, which contained four bedrooms. Again, because of its isolation and difficulty in landing, the lighthouse interior shows very little sign of vandalism, with all newel posts, spindles and handrails still remaining in position and in great shape.

After turning the landing on the stairs, we are again faced with double doors at an angle to each other on the far wall, and doors to two small rooms on each side of the hall.

 

Each of the bedrooms was outfitted with a single window at the gable end, and a closet at the inner end wall.

After heading back down the stairs, I made my way into the service room, in which there was firewood stacked against the wall from the crew that came out to install then new roof some ten years ago. Again, the colors all adhere to the original Lighthouse Service color scheme.

 

 Making my way into the covered way which leads from the service room to the tower. It is approximately ten feet in length. The roof in the covered way also experience considerable water damage before the new roof was installed ten years ago, and the deteriorating lath and plaster ceiling has been covered with plywood to eliminate falling debris.

A standard segmented cast iron circular stair way leads from the first floor to the lantern 70 steps above.

This service cabinet immediately beneath the lantern floor is still in surprisingly good condition, with the exception of its back wall, which shows some rot from minor water infiltration over the years.

Yes - even remote Menagerie Island has been visited by the Coast Guard over the past year and had its old Tidelands Signal optic upgraded to one of the ubiquitous Sabik LED 350 optics.

 

 The view to the northeast from the lighthouse gallery. Over the three hours we were on the island, the weather changed a umber of times between overcast and partly sunny.

This cast iron chimney cap makes a great roosting spot for one of the gulls. I have not personally seen thus specific type of chimney cap on any other lighthouse, and I believe it may be unique to Menagerie island.

Back down into the service room of the main entry hallway, with the stairs to the second floor visible by the door to the right. As I looked around this room, I noticed that numerous lighthouse Service and Coast Guard personnel had written their names on the walls along with the dates they had visited the lighthouse, with many of them also including the name of their home towns.

 

 As I looked around the room, I recognized many of the names on the walls. I got a real shiver down my spine when I came across this name on the wall. I was fortunate to interview Bill Muessel about eight years ago, and have him tell me of his two years on the lighthouse tender AMARANTH, and how he had witnessed a horrendous accident at Rock Of Ages lighthouse where one of the crew members had been cut in two when the tender's scow up-ended due to a shifting generator. I almost felt like I was reaching through time to shake Bill's hand when he was a young man.

 

After leaving the dwelling, I headed for the northeasterly end of the island. Along the way, there I found two privies. This, the first of them was a standard Lighthouse Service structure with a single hole and standard pitch roof.

 

The second of the two privies was gable-roofed, and of two-hole configuration. Note the substantial limestone sills and lintels on the single side window. Historic photographs show that there was also a workshop with large windows located immediately to the northeast of this privy, but I was unable to find any evidence of the structure or its foundation due to the thick grasses which were prevalent in this are of the island.

 

 

A view inside the hip-roofed privy showing the double-hole configuration. An archaeological excavation of both these privies and the site of the old workshop would make a great future project.

A view back toward the lighthouse from atop the steeply angled rock wall which makes up the entire eastern coast of the island.

 

A wider shot from the northeast end of the island showing the angled rock face. When I realized there was a pool of water retained down in the rocks t the left of center of this image, I had to make my way down the lichen-covered rocks in hope of finding a location in which I could photograph the lighthouse reflected in the pool.

Sure enough, the pool lined up perfectly, and I was able to capture one of my favorite shots from the day's shooting.

Switching to a different and smaller pool, I caught this somewhat abstract reflection shot, with the lighthouse reflection taking on a strange greenish tinge as s result of the high algae content in the water.

As we pulled away from the island, the sun again began to bathe the island in a warmer light......

.... and we couldn't resist swinging all the way to the northeastern tip of the island to catch a more distant shot of that dramatic eastern shoreline.