NB: We are investigating what is happening to the photographs...
Today we used our Tyler Arboretum Memberships to view the Presque Isle Lighthouses in Erie, PA.
Today we used our Tyler Arboretum Memberships to view the Presque Isle Lighthouses in Erie, PA.
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| Presque Isle Lighthouse (1872-1873, in 1896 another 17' was added to the tower) |
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| The attached lighthouse keeper's home is maintained in the era of the 1920s; kitchen |
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| 1929 Atwater Kent model 67 console radio |
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| Fourth-order Fresnel lens |
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| Originally using whale oil to light the lamps, kerosene began to be used in the late 1890s; the lighthouse keeper would fill enough lamps to be used during the night and stored them in a separate oil room |
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| We climbed the 78 steps of the circular staircase (even though the tower is square); here we are looking down the steps |
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| The view down on the Welcome Center and Gift Shop (originally a garage when the keeper's house was used by state park staff c 1944-2014) |
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| View north over Lake Erie, unusually calm today; note the groin (stone "island") that is one of 55, which create a segmented breakwater to control erosion |
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| Although electrified in the 1920s, the light is now fully automated (since 1962) and is maintained by the Coast Guard (since the 1940s) as a working aid to navigation |
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| The second floor of the lighthouse keeper's house: Clearing Out the Attic |
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| The bedroom illustrates the morning routine: |
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| Wash up at the wash stand using a pitcher of water and a wash bowl |
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| Empty the chamber pot in the outhouse |
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| And refill the oil lamp |
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| Back downstairs for the model buildings: Fog Signal Station (1899) that used to be located near the North Pier Light |
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| North Pier Light at the far eastern end of Presque Isle guided boats into a narrow channel to Presque Isle Bay; originally made of wood in 1840, it was destroyed when a schooner crashed into it during a gale; the pier was extended in 1858 with a new lighthouse made of wrought-iron; extended again in 1883 and in 1891, causing the lighthouse to be moved; electrification in 1924 and final extension in 1940 when the lighthouse was encased in steel panels |
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| Erie Land Lighthouse was the first lighthouse commissioned along the Great Lakes in 1818; in 1857 a brick tower replaced the original wooden structure, but on a poor foundation; in 1867 a Berea sandstone structure was built 200' east of the original; it is no longer an active aid to navigation |
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| Misery Bay Boathouse and Dock (1873), and 1872 stone pier; before roads, the lighthouse keeper kept a rowboat to go to the mainland for supplies or take children to school; the stone pier was where materials were delivered to build the Presque Isle lighthouse and keeper's house |
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| Presque Isle Lighthouse (1872-1873, tower addition in 1896) |
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| Lighthouse keeper's uniform jacket |
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| United States Lighthouse Society pin |
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| Sand sculpture (7/24/2026, by Todd Pangborn) from the Sand Jam! in Presque Isle State Park, sponsored by Marquette Savings Bank |
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| A huge pile of sand obscured our view of the North Pier Light, but it is ready to nourish Presque Isle beaches |
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| Gulls stand guard on the sand pile |
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| North Pier and Light |
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| Steel-paneled North Pier Light |
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| Back in the 1890s, people who could not afford homes built houseboats all around Presque Isle; in 1937 government regulations were made to limit the number to 24 houseboats and all are located in Horseshoe Pond |
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| Perry Monument (1926) honors Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, a naval war hero who defeated the British at the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812; six of Perry's eleven ships were built near the mainland and Perry and his fleet spent two winters here |
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| Erie Land Lighthouse (1867) |
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| Erie Land Lighthouse Keeper's Home (1858) |
