Whitefish Point Lighthouse, Lake Superior, Paradise, Chippewa County, Michigan
Built in 1847.
WHITEFISH POINT LIGHT
WHITEFISH POINT LIGHT, MICHIGAN
Location: WHITEFISH BAY/LAKE SUPERIOR
Station Established: 1848
Year Current Tower(s) First Lit: 1861
Operational? YES
Automated? YES 1970
Deactivated: n/a
Foundation Materials: CONCRETE/PILE
Construction Materials: CAST IRON
Tower Shape: SKELETAL
Markings/Pattern: WHITE W/RED ROOF
Relationship to Other Structure: ATTACHED
Original Lens: THIRD ORDER, FRESNEL 1857
Historical Information:
1847 - $5,000 appropriated to build the lighthouse.
1848 – Construction began on stone tower. The final cost was $8,298.
1849 – The light was exhibited for the first time from the lantern.
1857 – Lamp array changed to 4th order Fresnel lens.
1859 – Bill introduced in Congress requesting the Commerce Committee to investigate the possibility of improving the lighthouse.
1861 – Construction began on pre-fabricated cast-iron tower.
1862 – New tower placed in service.
1871 – Fog signal building constructed.
1893 – Characteristic changed from fixed to flashing.
1895 – Keeper’s house changed to duplex.
1896 – Fog signal building renovated.
1905 – New corrugated iron fog signal building built.
1935 – Fog signal building destroyed in storm.
1936 – Brick fog signal building built.
1937 – Protective piers built along the shoreline.
1968 – Fresnel lens removed and DCB224 aerobeacon installed.
1971 – Station automated.
1973 – Placed on National Register of Historic Places.
1985 – Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum established at site.
Keepers:
1848-1849: James Starr
1849-1851: James B. Van Renselaer
1851-1853: Amos Stiles
1853-1856: William C. Crampton
1856-1859: Belloni McGulpin
1859-1861: Charles Garland
1861-1864: Joseph Kemp
1863-1864: Charles Caldwell (1st assistant)
1864-1868: Thomas Stafford
1864-1868: E. Stafford (1st assistant)
1868-1874: Edward Ashman
1868-1874: Reuben Ashman (1st assistant)
1874-1882: Charles J. Linke
1874-1875: Thomas Tate (acting 1st assistant)
1875-1876: Richard Russell (1st assistant)
1876-1879: Nicholas Gengrew (1st assistant)
1879-1883: Joseph Linke (1st assistant)
1882-1883: Edward Chambers
1883-1903: Charles Kimball
1883-1895: Alonzo Kimball (1st assistant)
1894-1895: Charles Schulz (acting 2nd assistant)
1895-1897: Charles Schulz (1st assistant)
1896-1899: Donald Harrison (2nd assistant)
1897-1901: William Bennett (1st assistant)
1899-1901: James Kay (2nd assistant)
1902: Alfred Evenson (2nd assistant)
1902-1905: James Kay (1st assistant)
1903-1931: Robert Carlson
1903-1904: Charles Price (2nd assistant)
1904: William Mabee (2nd assistant)
1904-1905: Klass Hamringa (2nd assistant)
1905-1910: Herbert Crittenden (1st assistant)
1905-1906: Henry Noel (2nd assistant)
1906: William Duggan (2nd assistant)
1906-1907: John Clarke, Jr. (2nd assistant)
1907: Frederick Burnham (2nd assistant)
1907: Joseph Pigeon (2nd assistant)
1907-1908: William Gates (2nd assistant)
1908-1911: Arthur Clement (2nd assistant)
1910-1913: Frank Mersy (1st assistant)
1911: George Frederick (2nd assistant)
1911-1912: Edward Nordstrom (2nd assistant)
1922-1929: Carl Hagstrom (2nd assistant)
1923-1928: Peter Day (1st assistant)
1929-1939: (first name unknown) Robinson (2nd assistant)
1931-1933: Harry House
1933-1939: Charles Lewis
1936-1938: Wilbur Ranville (1st assistant)
1938-1941: Louis DeRusha (1st assistant)
1939-1940: Joseph Schmitz (2nd assistant)
1939-1941: William Campbell
1941-1947: Samuel Anderson (1st assistant)
Researched and written by Marie Vincent, a volunteer through the Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Lighthouse Society.