Rock Harbor Light

Rock Harbor Lighthouse
Undated USCG photo of the station

Location	Rock Harbor, Isle Royale National Park, Michigan
Coordinates	48°5′21″N 88°34′45″W / 48.08917°N 88.57917°W / 48.08917; -88.57917Coordinates: 48°5′21″N 88°34′45″W / 48.08917°N 88.57917°W / 48.08917; -88.57917
Year first constructed	1855
Year first lit	1856
Construction	brick/stone^[1]
Markings / pattern	White with black lantern^[1]
Height	50 feet (15 m)
Original lens	Fourth order Fresnel lens^[1]
Current lens	Removed^[1]
USCG number
Rock Harbor Lighthouse
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
NRHP Reference #	77000154^[2]
Added to NRHP	March 08, 1977

The Rock Harbor Lighthouse is a light station located in Rock Harbor on Isle Royale National Park, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.^[2]

Description

Rock Harbor Lighthouse (center bottom) is located in Rock Harbor on Isle Royale (right-click image to enlarge).

The Rock Harbor Lighthouse is a 50-foot-tall (15 m) cylindrical tower with a 16-foot-diameter (4.9 m) base,^[3] constructed of randomly placed stone and brick, capped with an octagonal beacon^[4] with a copper roof.^[3] A one-and-a-half-story keeper's house with gabled roof is connected to the tower on one end.^[4]

History

In 1852, due to the increase in shipping in Lake Superior, it was recommended that a new light be constructed on Isle Royale; the next year, Congress appropriated $5,000 to construct a light at Rock Harbor.^[3] Construction began in 1855, and was completed in 1856.^[3] The Rock Island Light was the first lighthouse constructed on Isle Royale.^[4] The first keeper arrived at the station on October 24, 1856, and the lighthouse went into operation a short time later.^[3]

The light had been manned for less than three years when it was determined that, due to the decrease in mining traffic, it was no longer required.^[3] It was extinguished on August 1, 1859, and the lighthouse was abandoned.^[3] During the American Civil War, copper mining increased once more, and in 1873 renovations began on the station, leading to the reactivation of the light on August 5, 1874. However, after another drop in copper prices, and following the activation in 1875 of the Isle Royale Light at Menagerie Island, the Rock Harbor Light was rendered less useful.^[3] On October 4, 1879, the Rock Harbor lighthouse was deactivated for the second and last time, having been in service for a total of only eight years since its construction.^[5]

In 1910, the keeper's house was altered, including the addition of dormers. In the 1950s, the tower began to tilt, and an emergency stabilization was undertaken; the tower still leans approximately 2 degrees.^[3] The original wooden roof of the structure was replaced with asphalt in 1962, and the foundation was stabilized in 1969.^[4] The station is currently unmanned.

References

1 2 3 4 "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Michigan". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Retrieved 8/19/09. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
1 2 Staff (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Rock Harbor Lighthouse from "Seeing the Light," retrieved 8/19/09
1 2 3 4 Rock Harbor Light from the state of Michigan, retrieved 8/19/09
↑ Rock Harbor Lighthouse from the Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy, retrieved 8/19/09

External links

Isle Royal National Park: Outdoor Activities
Rock Harbor Lighthouse, Survey number HABS MI-386, Historic American Buildings Survey.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rock Harbor Lighthouse.

Lighthouses in Michigan

Northern Upper Peninsula	Au Sable Big Bay Point Copper Harbor Copper Harbor Front Range Crisp Point Eagle Harbor Eagle Harbor Range Lights Eagle River Fourteen Mile Point Grand Island East Channel Grand Island Harbor Rear Range Grand Island North Grand Marais Range Lights Granite Island Gull Rock Huron Island Isle Royale Manitou Island Marquette Breakwater Outer Marquette Harbor Mendota (Bete Grise) Munising Front Range Munising Rear Range Ontonagon Ontonagon Harbor West Breakwater Portage River (Jacobsville) Passage Island Rock Harbor Rock of Ages Sand Hills Sand Point Light (Baraga) St. Martin Island Stannard Rock Thunder Bay Island Whitefish Point

Southern Upper Peninsula	DeTour Reef Lansing Shoals Manistique East Breakwater Martin Reef Menominee Pier Minneapolis Shoal Naubinway Island Peninsula Point Poverty Island Sand Point Seul Choix Squaw Island St. Martin Island

St. Mary's River	Frying Pan Island Pipe Island Point Iroquois Round Island Light (St. Mary's River) Six Mile Point Range Rear Winter Point Range Front

Portage River/Ship Canal	Keweenaw Waterway Lower Entrance Keweenaw Waterway Upper Entrance Portage Lake Rouleau Point Range Front and Rear Lights

Straits of Mackinac	Bois Blanc McGulpin Point Old Mackinac Point Round Island Round Island Passage St. Helena Island

Western Lower Peninsula	Beaver Island Harbor Beaver Island Head Big Sable Point Cedar River Charlevoix Charlevoix South Pier Frankfort Frankfort South Range Grand Haven North Pierhead Grand Haven South Pierhead Entrance Grand Haven South Pierhead Inner Grand Traverse Grays Reef Holland Harbor Ile Aux Galets Little Sable Point Little Traverse Ludington Manistee Pierhead Manning Memorial Mission Point Mission Point (1933) Muskegon Breakwater Muskegon Pier North Manitou Shoal Pentwater North Pierhead Pentwater South Pierhead Point Betsie Portage Lake South Fox Island South Haven South Manitou Island St. Joseph North Pier Inner St. Joseph North Pier Outer South Manitou Island Waugoshance White River White Shoal

Eastern Lower Peninsula	Alpena Caseville Harbor Charity Island Cheboygan Crib Cheboygan River Front Range DeTour Reef Detroit River Fort Gratiot Forty Mile Point Fourteen Foot Shoal Gibraltar Gravelly Shoal Harbor Beach Lake St. Clair Mariners Memorial Middle Island Miller Memorial New Presque Isle Old Presque Isle Peche Island Rear Range Poe Reef Pointe aux Barques Port Austin Port Sanilac Saginaw Bay Saginaw River Rear Range Spectacle Reef St. Clair Flats Front and Rear Range Light Sturgeon Point Tawas Point Thunder Bay Island Tri-Centennial Light of Detroit William Livingstone Memorial Windmill Point

Historical (lost) lights	Au Sable North Pierhead Belle Isle Clinton River Ecorse Ecorse Range Rear Gibraltar Grassy Island Grassy Island North Channel Range Lights Grassy Island South Channel Range Lights Grosse Ile North Channel Range Lights Grosse Ile South Channel Range Lights Harwood Point East Range Front Kalamazoo River Mama Juda Mama Juda Range Front Manistee Main Middle Lake George Monroe Pier New Buffalo North Manitou Island Saginaw Bay Sand Beach North Entrance East Squaw Point St. Mary's River Lower Range Front Vidal Shoals Channel Range Front and Rear Lights Windmill Point Range Front and Rear Lights

Related	Lightship Huron List of lifesaving stations in Michigan

National Register of Historic Places in Isle Royale National Park

Historic districts	Johns Hotel Minong Mine Historic District

Properties	ALGOMA AMERICA CHESTER A. CONGDON CUMBERLAND Edisen Fishery EMPEROR GEORGE M. COX GLENLYON HENRY CHISHOLM KAMLOOPS MONARCH Rock Harbor Light

See also: National Register of Historic Places listings in Isle Royale National Park

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