History of Whitefish Point Light – Summer 1989
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The Great Lakes… 84% of the continent’s fresh water… a different story in every drop.
By Janice H. Gerred
For 136 years. the Whitefish Point Light has cast her protective rays over the area known as the Graveyard of the Superior. It was opened in 1849 and was the first on this mighty lake.
The nation’s first light was in Boston in 1717. The first on the Great Lakes was at Buffalo in 1819.
Horace Greeley, on a trip up the big lake. stressed the importance of the area and the need for a lighthouse. On June 29, 1847, he wrote. “Congress has ordered a lighthouse to be erected here. a commissioner has located it. yet every month’s delay is virtual manslaughter.”
On April 3, 1847, President Polk signed the order for the purchase of the land, a total of 115.5 areas. The land was mostly sand and a cranberry marsh. It is stated that the early fur traders and missionaries stopped and bought cranberries from the Indians who fished there. Later the land was bought for lighthouses at Copper Harbor. Eagle Harbor. Grand Island. and Portage River.
Whitefish Point was deemed to be of the most importance but was soon followed by Stannard Rock and Passage Island. Whitefish Point marks the turning point from Superior into Whitefish Bay. Boats all set their courses from the point for the ports up the lake. The heavily laden downbound vessels make the point their prime target on the way to the Sault Locks.
Over a hundred shipwrecks have occurred on the coastal waters on both sides of Whitefish Point. In many cases entire crews were lost. Some of the wrecks include the Pacific and Niagara. 1887, Joseph Paige. 1897. Alex Nimick. 1907, D.M. Clemson and Neshoto, 1908. Superior City. 1920, and last, the Edmund Fitzgerald. 1975.
The first light was built by Ebeneezer Warner of Sandusky. Ohio, who signed the contract on August 21. 1847. Specifications were written in long hand and are on file in the National Archives. They called for it to be constructed of split stone or bricks and laid in lime mortar. The tower was to be 65 feet high. The little schooner Fur Trader carried the stone from Tahquamenon Island.
Whitefish Point Lighthouse. Image courtesy of the United States Coast Guard.
The lighthouse was completed and approved November 1, 1848, and put in operation the spring of 1849. The first light burned whale oil. The light was rebuilt in 1861 and the color was changed from black to white. The present structure, 80 feet high, of concrete and steel, was built in 1902. It was equipped with a Fresnel lens. The lamp was in the center, emitting beams which refracted inparallel rays. The lens was very expensive but more than paid for itself by reducing fuel costs by 75 percent. The beam can be seen from a distance of 25 miles on a clear night.
The main duties of the lighthouse keeper and his two assistants were maintenance of the light fog signal, and other properties. They were often called upon to help people in distress. Many times they would rescue people in small boats caught in a sudden squall. Several keepers walked to the nearest town to report ships in distress when the telephone was inoperative due to a storm. Frequently, shipwrecked sailors were taken care of by the crew until they were picked up by a boat. One keeper acted as postmaster.
The light always closed at the end of navigation in December, but on April 10, 1933, the keeper turned on the beam for the Coast Guards, who were searching for two fishermen who were cast adrift on an ice field in Whitefish Bay. The Coast Guard boat was caught between two ice fields, where it was crushed and sank. Lightkeeper Harry House saw their distress signals. Taking two Coast Guards with him in his motor boat with a skiff in tow, they dragged them to open water. After running the boat for two hours, they found the men on a floe of ice at about a mile away. They alternately rowed and dragged the boat over the water and ice.
Finally, the four men who had been out there all night were brought to safety. For this rescue, Mr. House received letters of commendation from the Secretary of Commerce and Lighthouse Department. A helicopter from Traverse City rescued the fisherman.
Prior to World War Two, the appraised value of the area included $2,000 for the land and $35,000 for improvements. Present facilities are more valuable now.
On April 9, 1947, the Whitefish Point Lighthouse and the Coast Guard Station were consolidated. A six-man crew operated the light, fog horn, radio beacon, and staffed the weather bureau station. This continued until 1971, when it became automated and controlled from Sault Ste. Marie.
On February 28, 1973, Whitefish Point was placed on the National Register of Historic Sites. It was the second light on Lake Superior to receive this recognition. A message sent by Vice President Gerald Ford was read at the dedication ceremony at Whitefish Point on June 2, 1974. Mr. Ford stated, “The lighthouse has traditionally been a symbol of the human desire to help a brother in distress. It is a fine symbol for a National Historic Landmark.”
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