Marblehead Lighthouse
Marblehead Lighthouse, South view. In 1819, the fifteenth U. S. Congress recognized the need for navigational aides along the Great Lakes, and set aside $5,000 for construction of a light tower at the entrance to Sandusky Bay • Contractor William Kelly built the 50-foot tower of native limestone on the tip of the Marblehead Peninsula • The base of the tower is 25 feet in diameter, with walls five feet thick. It narrows to twelve feet at the top with two-foot thick walls
Through history, fifteen lighthouse keepers, two of whom were women, have tended the beacon • The first keeper was Benajah Wolcott, a Revolutionary War veteran and one of the first settlers on the peninsula • He and his family lived in a small stone home on the Sandusky Bay side of the peninsula • Each night, he lit the wicks of the thirteen whale oil lamps that were the original light fixture • Sixteen-inch-diameter metal reflectors helped project the light across the lake • Other duties of the lighthouse keeper included keeping a log of passing ships, noting the weather conditions, and organizing rescue efforts • Upon Wolcott's death in 1832, his wife, Rachel, took over these duties
Through history, fifteen lighthouse keepers, two of whom were women, have tended the beacon • The first keeper was Benajah Wolcott, a Revolutionary War veteran and one of the first settlers on the peninsula • He and his family lived in a small stone home on the Sandusky Bay side of the peninsula • Each night, he lit the wicks of the thirteen whale oil lamps that were the original light fixture • Sixteen-inch-diameter metal reflectors helped project the light across the lake • Other duties of the lighthouse keeper included keeping a log of passing ships, noting the weather conditions, and organizing rescue efforts • Upon Wolcott's death in 1832, his wife, Rachel, took over these duties
