The Rock Harbor Lighthouse is a light station located in Rock Harbor on

Isle Royale National Park Isle Royale National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States consisting of Isle Royale, along with more than 400 small adjacent islands and the surrounding waters of Lake Superior, in Michigan. ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1977.

Description

The Rock Harbor Lighthouse is a cylindrical tower with a base, constructed of randomly placed stone and brick, capped with an octagonal beacon with a copper roof. A one-and-a-half-story keeper's house with gabled roof is connected to the tower on one end.

History

In 1852, due to the increase in shipping in

Lake Superior Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. Lake Michigan–Huron has a larger combined surface area than Superior, but is normally considered tw ...

, it was recommended that a new light be constructed on

Isle Royale Isle Royale (, ) is an Islands of the Great Lakes, island of the Great Lakes located in the northwest of Lake Superior and part of the U.S. state of Michigan. The island and the 450 surrounding smaller islands and waters make up Isle Royale Na ...

; the next year, Congress appropriated $5,000 to construct a light at Rock Harbor. Construction began in 1855, and was completed in 1856. The Rock Island Light was the first lighthouse constructed on

. The first keeper arrived at the station on October 24, 1856, and the lighthouse went into operation a short time later. The light had been staffed for less than three years when it was determined that, due to the decrease in mining traffic, it was no longer required. It was extinguished on August 1, 1859, and the lighthouse was abandoned. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, 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. 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. 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. The original wooden roof of the structure was replaced with asphalt in 1962, and the foundation was stabilized in 1969. The station is currently not staffed.

References

External links

Isle Royale National Park: Outdoor ActivitiesRock Harbor Lighthouse
Survey number HABS MI-386, Historic American Buildings Survey. {{authority control Lighthouses in Keweenaw County, Michigan Lake Superior National Register of Historic Places in Isle Royale National Park Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan Lighthouses completed in 1855 Inclined towers