Sand Island Lighthouse

Friday, April 20, 1900 - Keeper Emmanuel Luick and wife arrived at station with str. Hunter at 2 p.m. Found lots of ice to go through and the shore all blocked with heavy ice. Keeper found station o.k. and lit the light for the season. Wind - calm and clear very pleasant, at 7:00 p.m. Mr. Fred Hanson came after his mail.

Great Lakes Light Stations were seasonal and operated from the time ice broke up enough yin the spring to allow ships to move until shipping ceased in the fall. A season could be as long as March to December or as short as mid-May to early November. Most of the Great Lakes light stations were small single or two family stations. However, the addition of a fog signal at a station would require more than two keepers. Because the stations were seasonal, Great Lakes Keepers were paid less than their counterparts on the coasts.

Over the next few issue Pages From the Past will feature excerpts from the journal of Ella Gertrude (Richardson) Luick, who married lighthouse keeper Emmanuel Luick in 1886 in Rhode Island. Prior to her marriage she was a correspondent for a newspaper, which may explain her chatty, illustrative entries. Emmanuel Luick was born in Ohio in 1866 to German immigrant parents. He entered the U. S. Lighthouse Service in 1889 as 2nd Assistant Keeper of the Outer Island Light Station, Lake Superion.