Ohio

Over the years, two dates have been mentioned regarding the establishment of the Ashtabula Harbor Light  tation, originally known as the Ashtabula Beacon Light Station. One document states the light station was constructed prior to 1821, while other documents say it was constructed in 1836. The author believes the correct date is 1836, when the light station was built on a wooden crib approximately 40 feet square and just off Ashtabula's eastern pier at the entrance to the Ashtabula River. The hexagon-shaped tower was short in statute for its time.

Several years ago I was looking through some old drawings at the National Archives when I came upon a drawing of a strange lighthouse that was labeled "Cedar Point Ohio Front Range - 1864." Later still, I found photographs of this unusual design in the Toledo Blade newspaper in Toledo, Ohio. The story in the paper told of this building's use at Manhattan. I have been to Manhattan, New York, many times, but Manhattan, Ohio - that was a new one for me.

Lighthouses are responsible for saving lives and property, but this lid is the story of a lighthouse that went beyond the obligatory rescue of ships and crews, passengers and cargo. For nearly four decades, it was a beacon of hope for a despised, abused, and desperate faction ofsociety. Fairport Harbor Light was a critical stop on the underground Railroad that brought black slaves to freedom in Canada. And many years later, when its light was no longer needed, the lighthouse itself was saved by a group of insightful citizens who recognized its unique contributions to the American story.

Lighthouse Keeper Stephen Woolverton wrote numerous letters to Fifth Auditor Stephen Pleasonton during the third decade of the nineteenth century. This correspondence provides glimpses not only into the life of an early keeper, but reflects the struggles of the growing Lighthouse Establishment in defining the role of a lighthouse keeper. There were 155 light stations in the U.S. when we first hear from Woolverton in 1831, no formal instructions were issued to keepers until 1835.

I thought I was starting to know something about lighthouses. After all, I have been researching and writing about lighthouses for over five years now. Then one day I was looking for some keeper's information in one of the microfilms produced by the National Archives, and on the oldest reel, I suddenly came to a lighthouse I never heard of before. "Cunningham Creek Ohio, J. R. Cunningham keeper starting 24 April 1843, at $350, Henry Richardson keeper starting 5 February 1846," and then, "this light abandoned." I was intrigued.