August 5, 2024 • 48 mins
20 miles into Lake Michigan from Mackinac Bridge, White Shoal Lighthouse is the only red-and-white barber shop tower in the US. As the tallest lighthouse on the Great Lakes, it has seen its fair share of action in its relatively short history. However, most of the history is in the making as White Shoal Light undergoes restoration to be unique lodging for adventure-seekers!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hi everyone, I'm Emily.
(00:02):
And I'm Vince.
And this is the Lighthouse Lowdown.
Welcome to the Lighthouse Lowdown.
Thank you.
We're in a new place, a new space I should say once again.
Yeah, riprap version four or five.
(00:24):
This is going to be our permanent spot but we need to figure out some.
Wait for a while.
Let's go.
Need to figure out some deets.
Yep.
But I'll jump right into it today.
I think it might be a little bit of a long one.
Oh nice.
I'm going to start off by saying that Wednesday, this coming Wednesday the seventh is National
Lighthouse Day.
(00:45):
So if you live near a lighthouse, it's more than likely that they're going to have some
kind of special event or you know, a party.
In the United States, National Lighthouse Day?
Very cool.
Our international listeners will have to dance along.
Speaking of dance, what's the news there?
I don't know.
We probably talked about it last year.
(01:05):
But the USLHS is doing a dance competition where as long as you have like a lighthouse
or a lightship or something in the background, you do a dance to a specific song and submit
it and then winners get cash prizes.
Oh, I'm definitely going to submit.
Well, we are going to because the submission deadline is I think August 25th and we're
(01:29):
going to be near lighthouses by August 21st.
Heck yeah, Cape Cod.
So it'll be a very fast edit, very fast filming and everything else.
We'll do a little short episode.
But I would like to participate.
And instead the submission can be as short or as long as you want it to be.
So like 15 hours of us dancing.
(01:50):
Maybe not on loop like that.
No, not on loop continuously.
Oh, well, you'd be kind of tired from all the travel cocktails help for questions about
it.
You can directly email Jeremy at USLHS dot org.
All right, do it very good.
Now on to our history of buoy.
I'm going to talk about lighthouse coatings.
(02:10):
I think coat, coat, coat.
Yeah, like a jacket, like a jacket, a lighthouse jacket.
So obviously the coating depends on the material of the lighthouse and its location.
And what works for one lighthouse isn't going to work for all lighthouses.
And there's a couple of lighthouses we've covered that have special coatings.
(02:30):
Like Ochre Coke, like Ochre Coke, that big stubby little reminder.
We talked about that in our Outer Banks episode and it had a coating made of lime, salt, rice,
whiting and clear glue, which was mixed with boiling water before being put onto the lighthouse.
(02:50):
Did you say rice?
Yes, ground rice.
Awesome.
Did not see that coming.
I know.
It was just the strangest concoction.
So we don't have a lot of like that today, but that was what they used to protect Ochre
Coke, a very high humidity environment onto a brick lighthouse.
So honestly, it was permeable and need some help, which that even didn't protect the lighthouse.
(03:15):
Like the brick is needs some help these days.
So yeah, but it's been a while, a long time.
Yeah, Masonry often had a sacrificial layer of stucco, is it?
Stucco or lime mortar wash that would erode over time instead of the stone.
Yeah, that is kind of what I'm thinking.
Ochre Coke might have been like too, is just that it was sealed and kind of took the beating
(03:38):
instead of the lighthouse.
And then they because they reapplied it like every year, maybe like twice a year or something.
Yeah, I didn't know that.
Yeah, it was like one of the keepers jobs was reapplying that.
It was I wonder if it's added up over time, you know, to because its shape is kind of
rounded almost.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, not even but all like I remember touching it and looking up as some photos I took from
(04:04):
the very base of it, just kind of looking up as close as you can to it right by the
door.
Yeah.
And I was like, how is that applied?
It looks like it was applied by hand.
Well, guess what it was.
And I kind of feel stupid.
Of course it was.
What are they going to put that thing in a spray booth?
Roll it in.
We actually talk about that today, too.
No way.
(04:24):
No, I'm actually surprised.
Well, actually, talk a little.
I'm not quite done with my history, but we'll talk a couple talk about a couple of these
points today.
So obviously, since Ochre Coke, things have evolved a lot and lighthouses need protection
now more than ever because they're in serious danger of like falling apart unless there's
somebody taking care of them.
(04:45):
So it's better to have a strong protective coating than to constantly having to do maintenance,
which has to be done anyway.
That makes sense.
They got enough work to do out there.
Yeah.
So commonly these days we see acrylic polyurethane on metal, stone, and brick lighthouses plus
(05:07):
all of like bolts and railings and things.
And this substance often resembles a cross between plastic and rubber.
So it's flexible, but also really strong.
Trinity House, which is a UK maritime charity, we've talked about it a lot.
It oversees the lighthouses.
Did an FAQ on the subject and they said they have two systems depending on the lighthouse
(05:28):
material and location.
So aside from the polyurethane mentioned, they also use mono-lastex smooth on render,
which render is just a mixture of sand and cement.
This mono-lastex smooth is a water-based waterproof substance that also resists mold fungus and
also has really good vapor permeability.
(05:48):
So it's great on like brick, but also on concrete.
And it also comes in a lot of colors.
So it's like a coating, but also a paint.
That's really interesting.
Yeah.
So you mentioned, don't let me take you too far off track.
Oh no.
Render being a mix of cement and sand.
So I'm going to oversimplify it.
(06:08):
But I think, I mean, there's different classifications of sand and aggregate and whatnot.
But, so cement is the slurry and concrete is a mixture of cement and aggregate.
So if you were to take cement and sand and mix it together, you'd have concrete more
or less.
The reason I bring that up is I saw a video, it's like two or three minutes recently, of
(06:33):
a woman, another podcast.
I can't tell you which one, because I don't remember.
She was talking about how we're running out of sand, like as a natural resource.
Apparently there's only so much sand that's perfect for construction.
Like there's certain sand grades you need for making glass, certain sand grades you
need for making concrete.
The cost of like refining sand makes it not worth it if you can't just go get it from
(06:59):
somewhere and then transporting it's super expensive too, because it's heavy.
So anyways, apparently they like the Burj Dubai, that really tall building.
Apparently they imported sand, even though it's in the desert, because the desert sand
is not fit to make concrete.
I never thought about that.
So all sand is not created equal.
I wonder what my coffee brain said was, I wonder if render is another like English,
(07:26):
British English word for concrete or if they're very different.
I'm not sure.
They're different.
I just looked it up.
It's actually mostly a protective coating.
So that monolastic, I'm away from here so I can't record it.
Monolastic smooth goes on top of render and render is a protective coating usually used
(07:46):
on masonry, but it's a mixture of sand, water, cement and lime.
Has a fire rating and waterproof qualities and also holds aesthetic appeal.
Well, render me educated.
Good one.
Right, and then Trinity House also said for offshore lighthouses that take more of a beating,
they use a liquid plastics product, but they don't specify what that is.
(08:08):
Like an epoxy, I bet.
Yeah, probably.
Nasty stuff.
Been a lot more tough.
For paint that needs to remain really bright, this is fun.
Teneimic is a brand that's been used for several lighthouses that have red roofs, such as St.
Augustine and South Pier Lighthouse.
It has a high solids, fluoropolymer, think Teflon.
(08:30):
That's exciting.
No, I am excited.
Teneimic is an awesome brand.
So they worked with me at my first job and then now my current job.
And they make paints, not all of their paints, but some of their paints are actually insulating.
So you can coat a pipe with paint and it insulates it.
(08:51):
It's not as good as fiberglass insulation.
And some of their paints are really super strong, which makes sense for outdoor use
so that you can put steel pipe outdoor and just not worry about it anymore.
Not worry about it corroding is what I mean.
Very cool.
Sorry to interrupt.
Very cool.
But you get what I'm talking about.
And I actually have a koozie in our kitchen from Teneimic.
(09:13):
No way.
And it's like a paint can design.
What a weird small world.
That little text on the back says something like, you know, contains like delicious drink
or something silly like that.
That's funny.
Yeah, you nodded with Teneimic and I was like, don't nod as if you know what I'm talking
about.
(09:33):
The people can't see you nod.
I do know what you're talking about.
That's awesome.
But anyway, this layer goes after the polyurethane layer, which has high color and gloss retention
even when exposed to high UV for years.
So like a lot of lighthouses we see the red turns into a very light pink over like not
that much time.
So this kind of battles that where you keep that bright day mark.
(09:56):
That's so important without having to reapply all the time.
That's awesome.
Which is something we'll see with the lighthouse today as well.
We're going to be talking about white shoal lighthouse, which we mentioned in episode
43 with Mackinac.
Mackinac.
(10:17):
I looked off like Mackinac.
Mackinac.
Memories of Mackinac.
Mackinac Point.
Mackinac.
That's right by the long bridge that's north.
The Mackinac Bridge.
Great Lake Superior and.
Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse.
I'm sorry.
(10:37):
I knew that there were several words and I was like, if I try, then I won't cover it.
I got to look it up.
But anyway, that was episode 43 and this one is 20 miles west of the Mackinac Bridge.
Cool.
Out in the open.
So we're heading back up to the Straits of Mackinac.
This straight connected Lake Huron and Lake Michigan connects and had fairly high traffic,
(10:58):
especially towards like the late 1800s.
It also had a lot of shoals, which is just areas of shallow water.
OK.
So they each needed to be marked now that more people were starting to come to the street.
So the most shallow Simmons Reef was only three feet deep and Congress approved sixty
thousand dollars for a lighthouse to be built there in 1889.
(11:19):
But a survey of the area showed that they couldn't build a lighthouse there for less
than one hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
At that time, that was like that amount today is five million dollars.
Can you imagine looking at that and being like, oh, it's probably about five million.
It's like the the memes, the guy from Pond Stars.
Best I can do is five million.
(11:40):
What?
I don't know that.
It's just like it's a have you heard of Pond Stars like the TV show?
What?
Yes.
I think you're saying Pond Stars.
No, that would be more.
That makes sense.
But there's just this image that goes around when they're like negotiating, like anyone
selling their car on Facebook or whatever.
And it shows the bald guy like slap the counter and it's best I can do is and then he says
(12:05):
the price number.
Yeah.
So that doesn't translate very well, but maybe I'll insert it here.
People that do know it would probably get a kick out.
There's going to be a couple out there.
Yeah, just a couple.
You're welcome.
The Lighthouse Board requested the other ninety thousand dollars, but they also asked that
the original sixty thousand be used for light ships that would mark each of the most the
(12:25):
three most shallow areas.
Light ships.
Yes.
Stationary light ships get towed out there and left.
Cool.
Yeah.
So Simmons Reef, Grays Reef and White Shoals were the ones that they were looking at.
And Congress approved this in eighteen ninety one.
So at that point, three one hundred foot wooden light ships with fog signals and steam propulsion,
(12:47):
which is important because these were the first US light vessels to have self propelling
engines.
But they still had to be towed out there.
So maybe it was just like, I don't know if they're self propelling.
Why do they need help?
They had steam engines.
They were towed out there and they were stationary.
Yeah.
And what was the light on them?
(13:07):
Was it electric at the time?
Or was the boat was the ship itself just brightly colored?
It had a lot.
We need to do a history on light ships because I thought we had.
I think we talked about.
Maybe I'm thinking of a different word.
Lighthouse tenders is what I'm thinking.
Oh, no.
(13:28):
Not lightship.
Yeah, these are lightships.
Although I can see how the terms would be confused.
I can see how I got confused.
Of course, that makes sense for smart people to think those things.
But anyway, these were built by the Blythe Craig Shipbuilding Company of Toledo, Ohio,
and were towed to their spots by October of that same year with LV 55, just light vessel
(13:51):
55 at Simmons Reef, 56 at White Shoal and 57 at Grace, which I had to look up all of
those individually.
So go me.
Good for you.
Thank you.
It's quality research.
Quality research.
So LV 56, which is the one at White Shoals was attached to a five ton sinker by 15 fathoms
(14:11):
of two inch chain.
Heck yeah.
We talked fathoms early on.
I saw the fathoms and I was like, oh, I got to bring this up for Vince.
Anyway, life was not too agreeable on this vessel, allegedly, with the entire crew abandoning
the ship against orders within three weeks.
That's fast.
Yeah.
So then of course they were all fired and then a new crew was found.
(14:32):
But it just shows that it was pretty rough.
Yeah.
Being stationed out on a light ship was not the same as being stationed on a lighthouse.
It's a lighthouse that rocks all the time.
Yeah.
And not as like protective, I would think.
Right.
Oh yeah.
The rocking would.
I've seen videos of people in the Coast Guard or like in the Navy and it just shows them
(14:52):
like walking sideways on like a desk.
Yes.
Because it's waves are so crazy.
Yeah.
I have I've never been on a boat like that.
Yeah.
I've been on a couple of rocking boats, but nothing large where, well, we're going to
stay out in a storm.
No.
Yeah.
Never.
(15:12):
I can't imagine it.
So finally in 1907.
So this is a pretty late lighthouse.
1907 Congress put aside $250,000, which is $8.5 million in today's money.
It's crazy.
For a lighthouse and fog house to be built on White Shoal since the current vessel had
to be removed during winter months due to ice.
And so they wanted something that was going to be there year round.
(15:35):
No problem.
So the foundation work was awarded to the lowest bidder for $93,785 plus 60 cents.
I'm like so specific.
Very firm price.
With Gillen Construction Company of Milwaukee.
May 1908 construction started.
The rock was leveled and 400,000 square feet of timber cribbing was built onshore and then
(15:57):
towed over to site.
And then they sunk it onto the shoal that they had prepped with 4,000 tons of rock and
3,600 cubic yards of concrete.
There's a really great old photo showing this crib before the lighthouse was built on top.
Because it was incredible.
Like a two year endeavor.
Wow.
There's a picture.
(16:17):
And it's funny because in the photo it looks short.
But then you see the man standing on the side.
I'm pretty sure it was 20 feet above sea level.
The total height of just the crib.
Yeah.
If he's looking, I mean maybe not the average back then, but let's say six foot.
Yeah.
Three of him plus any of those gentlemen.
Yeah.
(16:38):
That's crazy.
Pretty cool to see a good photo from early 1900s.
Of the construction.
Right.
And they usually have pictures, especially in like National Archives and in like USLHS,
they have pictures of the half completed lighthouse or like the lighthouse without the lantern
room, but never of like just the foundation or something like that.
So it's special to have a photo that actually clearly shows this crib being built.
(17:03):
It's pretty cool.
It is.
On top of that, they had a reinforced concrete pier built 20 feet above the water line to
support the lighthouse.
And then by the time this was completed, winter was approaching, so they erected a skeleton
tower with a temporary acetylene light on top.
Keep touching this coffee and it's like super condensate.
(17:24):
In the industry, we say it's sweating.
In the industry.
Isn't that like a normal human word for this?
Probably.
But also in the industry.
In 1909, the pier was completed as was the exterior of the steel and concrete lighthouse
aside from the lantern room.
And this is what I was talking about earlier.
It was coated with gunite after completion, which is just sprayed concrete.
(17:48):
So like the outside, like its coating was sprayed.
I don't know.
I feel like that would be not the cleanest application.
So 1909 is when we're talking.
Yeah.
When do they, I don't mean to jump ahead of you.
We'll keep going.
The light was established in September of 1910 and LV 56 was reassigned to North Manitou
(18:12):
Shoals, which got its own lighthouse in 1935.
So super late, only three years before Coast Guard took over.
So what was it?
1912 was or 1911 somewhere in there.
The Titanic sank.
Oh, right.
Yeah.
Why does that feel like?
I want to say 1910 to 13, somewhere in there.
I should know these things.
(18:32):
But the reason I bring it up is just, so I've considered doing an episode on lighthouse
construction.
1912, good one.
Yeah, look at me.
But one of the reasons I haven't yet is that there's so many different eras in technologies
and so many different ways people have built lighthouses and parts of them.
So it's something more I was going to be able to talk about.
(18:54):
But I was thinking about like, you know, this day in history, what was going on with construction
and something.
I took a class in college, mechanics of materials and materials.
And one of the things we talked about was the Titanic as an example of steel production.
So there's a ductile to brittle transition temperature, DBTT.
(19:16):
And I probably said this before on the podcast.
But at a certain degree, untreated steel, meaning steel that is not blended with other
metals, which is alloying.
Steel will become brittle to where if you introduce a crack, like with a iceberg, the
steel actually sheared like a piece of paper.
(19:38):
It cracked as if it were porcelain, you know, which is something that was a lesson learned
of that time.
But that's crazy to me that you had World War One go on shortly after that, early 1910s,
I think.
And then, you know, it can continue down the ramble ramble ramble all through technology
(20:01):
and history.
But right now, like these folks are building this structure, not knowing so many things
that we know today.
Yeah.
And in some way, kind of doing a better job.
Because it's all they got.
They're doing all they got.
But all these these men are all tradesmen.
They're all specialists.
You know, I'm sure it wasn't an easy life.
But it's so interesting to me that people were so skilled.
(20:24):
And they just really gambled on themselves.
They bet on themselves like, yeah, we can build it.
Like the low bidder won the cribbing contracts we're talking about.
Yeah, there's like, we can make it happen.
Have they ever even done one before?
Yeah, true.
Yeah, that would be a good a little add on like what's going on in construction, because
it's like, is it revolutionary at that time?
Or was it like something that they're well versed in?
(20:48):
Yeah, interesting.
Yeah.
The 1912 annual report of the Commissioner of Lighthouses said, quote, I'm doing a lot
of reading in this episode because it's it's better sometimes straight from the horse's
mouth.
But quote, the deck of the pier supports an ornamental cylindrical.
Wait a minute.
I have a photo.
Wait a minute.
(21:09):
Pop that photo.
Here we've got the completed lighthouse.
Oh, it's pretty.
Yes.
And that black band around the bottom, it was like 38 feet up, I want to say.
It says it later in my notes.
No way.
But it counted as its day mark is this black band.
That is cool.
It's an iron.
Well, maybe not iron.
It looks metal.
Is that wood or metal?
(21:30):
It's concrete painted, I believe.
Even cooler.
I could be wrong.
This is a very cool lighthouse.
And I love the little ship that's next to the entry ladder.
I think that's so cute.
Do you want to describe it for our listeners only?
Lighthouse?
Only listeners, not watchers.
Yeah.
It's all white, has lots of windows, which they say today is really nice because there's
(21:51):
no AC.
And so air blows straight through the lighthouse and there's always like at least a breeze,
usually high winds.
So it's actually pretty comfortable in there when it gets hot.
All white.
You can see the brick pattern.
It has a aluminum lantern room.
So it was like very bright and reflective.
And I think it was the only aluminum one on the Great Lakes at the very least.
(22:12):
Pretty neat.
I think 125 feet from the pier.
So above water level, it was like 145 or something.
It's beautiful.
Maybe more.
I can't remember.
Cool day mark, kind of that low black band.
The windows are all tall, rectangular, except for the upper level, which I don't remember
(22:32):
what that's called.
And it's got some faux.
So I didn't get to research too far into this, but this picture shows it really well.
These massive front doors you can see in comparison of the guy that's standing up front.
They're metal doors.
And it's because there was a boat inside the bottom of the lighthouse that they would take
out to use.
I think it was a motorboat or at least it was in like in the future from this image.
(22:57):
Yeah.
Very cool.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
So I get get back to my quote.
I was like, oh my gosh, wait, I have a photo.
So the deck of the pier supports an ornamental cylindrical base for a conical shaped tower
surmounted by a cylindrical service room, watch room and first order helical bar lantern
whose focal plane is 105 feet above the deck of the pier.
(23:18):
The tower is of structural steel backed with brick and faced with terracotta with certain
cast iron parts and trimmings and with a gallery deck watch room and lantern made of aluminum.
It goes on to describe the floors, which I'll pull up a picture for those are watching of
a breakdown of what the floors look like.
Out there are four keepers at the station.
(23:39):
The tower is nine stories in height, including the cellar on the in the interior of the pier,
which contains the oil tanks.
Above this is the first floor on level with deck of pier outside containing rooms for
the fog signal machinery, heating plant stores, closets and powerboat.
The powerboat is the thing we were talking about that needed the big doors on the second
(23:59):
floor are tool room, bathroom and kitchen store room.
The third floor contains kitchen, living room and bedroom, the fourth floor, two bedrooms,
toilet, etc.
The fifth floor, a bedroom and general sitting room.
The sixth and seventh one large room each.
The eighth contains the service room, which is immediately below the watch room of the
lantern.
(24:19):
The stairs are not centrally located but are amply provided for near the outer walls of
the tower.
Supplies are landed directly on the pier from the tender and the keeper's powerboat is stowed
within the tower in a corridor on the first floor and the rowboat on the pier outside.
That was all from the annual report of the commissioner of lighthouse.
Very official.
Yeah.
So that mechanical room, the eighth floor, that's the one that I was pointing out has
(24:42):
porthole windows in it.
Oh, really?
Yeah.
Very cool.
And then it's that's the cylindrical room, I would say above the conical area.
But I really hope this is still there.
What?
This lighthouse.
It is.
It's still there.
Oh, let's go.
It's pretty cool.
They have a lot of awesome current history going on right now.
(25:05):
Come on, Michigan.
Let's go.
Let's go.
So they had a second order flashing lens on a mercury float, which is another history
buoy I'm going to do is I found some some data on mercury floats, like how they came
to be and like their downfall and all that.
We talked a little bit about them.
We did at some point.
Yeah.
(25:25):
And who was it that told us?
We were wrong
That was Fred Stonehouse Fred. Yes, so maybe I'm stepping on your material
But Fred mentioned a lot of the Great Lakes Lighthouses are not mercury floats. I can't remember why
The main reason is that
(25:46):
So this is a good example. Actually. The main reason is that Great Lakes
Did not often have anything more than a fourth order lens. Okay, they weren't that heavy
So you didn't need something like a mercury float in order to rotate the lens
You could just use clockwork and it wouldn't put a bunch of stress on anything wasn't heavy enough
But the second order lens is the largest that's ever been on the Great Lakes
(26:06):
and so they needed something like a mercury float to reduce the
Pressure. Yeah, so it could still reduce the friction so it could still rotate. Yeah, right. Cool. I'm excited to learn more
Yeah, so this lens was lit by mineral oil that was pumped from the bottom of the station, which is like 125 feet
It's a lot of head. It's a lot. Yeah, and we talked a lot about how keepers had to lug
(26:29):
buckets or you know containers of oil up all the stairs
So it's it's nice that this lighthouse was built in a time where you could just install a pump
I'm curious how that yeah, it's 19 something. So they were around. I'm curious what style of pump and all that
I'm studying. I'm studying for my professional engineering license exam
And I one of the sections I read last night was the various types of pumps at least for HVAC use
(26:54):
Yes
So the lens was rotated by clockwork with hanging weights with run rotation every 32 seconds
I have a picture here. I think the photo was taken in the 90s
But this is this was the the second order lens that we had it was by valve or clam shell time
Pretty the largest we ever had in the Great Lakes
(27:16):
Lots of copper there's this neat photo of when it was being assembled or maybe taken apart of just the bullseye
Which I thought was awesome because we've never seen one half taken apart super cool. No, I have not
I wonder if they have bolts that go in those copper sections
Or how that works. You know, they've got to be easily replaceable when something's damaged or scratched
(27:38):
I see in that that bullseye image on the right. It looks like holes. Yeah, maybe they're tapped for screws
Mm-hmm interesting. So yeah, currently it's at a shipwreck museum at Whitefish Point light station in
Michigan somewhere. I'm thinking of Montana. Obviously that's not I don't think there's any lighthouses in Montana
But yeah Paradise Michigan's where it's located cool. It's a skeleton light never looked up. It's pretty. Oh my gosh
(28:04):
Lots of buildings another one to add the list
So the total cost of this lighthouse being built ended up being
two hundred and twenty four and a half thousand dollars they saw with a skill 500 bucks under
Under budget 25,000 underneath. Oh
Nice, I would have said 500 and kept the cash
(28:24):
That's unethical not really it's not ethical sweetheart for everyone out there that knows me that's not actually true
So, let's see another fun point is that this is the tallest lighthouse on the Great Lakes today
Oh cool. I didn't know that it doesn't look that tall from you know
We've talked about this lighthouses that are just out in the middle like corridor one
(28:48):
Yeah with nothing next to it. Nothing to gauge the size of it
It doesn't look like it's that tall but it's still pretty tall for a Great Lakes to have a second order and
Be over a hundred feet tall is like whoa
So 1930 there's not a lot that happened to this lighthouse
so it's mostly like current things that are really exciting, but in 1930 the Illuminate was changed electricity and
(29:11):
Originally it was a white tower as you could see in the older photos that we showed
And I had a narrow black band at 38 feet. So yep, that's a pretty early transition. Go ahead in
1927 it was changed to a all-black lighthouse
Which painted black was not common at all?
But when you think about it, it's against sky and water so black would stand out
(29:35):
Especially if the Sun's coming down and it's like yeah the lights reflecting like would you see white as well as you would see black?
I don't think so. Well and at nighttime, it's gonna be black anyways, right?
I mean the lights all you're gonna see the day mark is not really relevant at night. Black is interesting
Yeah, and then of course, it's
Michigan so the ice gets crazy in the winter so it's important to distinguish it from that that makes sense
(29:59):
But they repainted it back to white ten years after that in 1937. Wonder why the ten years?
There's got to be lessons learned. Yeah, maybe there's a wreck or maybe it was expensive
Got dirty. I think black must have been a lot more expensive than white black cars are hard to keep clean. So
Oh 1954 white Scholes got the red spiral markings that we see today
(30:28):
Barber shop candy cane, what are we talking? Barber shop and candy cane refer to the same
This is what we originally had and there was black and then back to this original and now we have
This barbershop, which is the only that's cool. The only barbershop
Striped lighthouse in the US and only candy striped light on the Great Lakes. Really? Yeah, it's the only one
(30:51):
Mm-hmm. I wonder if it's always been the only one. Is that ice by the way? Yes, the amount of ice is insane
I have a picture later that kind of shows like a glacier cliff next to one of them or next to the lighthouse
It's kind of crazy. That makes me nervous
By the way, I meant red and white barber striped is it's the only one in the US because we have like Kay Patras and
(31:11):
St. Augustine which are a barber stripe, but they're black and white
Yeah, so just to specify and this is red in a black and white photo. Yes, very cool
You see if I have a photo?
Of it in color. Oh, yeah, awesome and embedded in ice
Well, and that makes sense too because it's on a three foot deep water area the shoal
(31:34):
And so the water is gonna be able to freeze there before and in deeper water and climb up over time
That looks cold very Christmassy. Yeah, it is cute. Nice Christmas card
1976 the station was automated and de-staffed as were the lights on Grays Reef and Lansing shoals. So late
electrified early automated late interesting in May
(31:57):
2014 so we're skipping ahead White Shoals lighthouse was deemed excess by the Coast Guard and made available under the guidelines of the National Historic
Lighthouse Preservation Act, but nobody claimed it because it would have been
So expensive. Yeah to
fix
Especially after being abandoned for decades. Oh
76 to 14. Yep. That's a lifetime. It's a long time for me
(32:21):
It was put up for bid with a starting amount of $15,000 and at the end of the high bid was
$110,000 and $9 to what would become the White Shoal light historical preservation society with the goal to fix it up to
1950s condition and make it available to the public for people to stay at I like that
Yeah, I know I like it when they make it vintage if I had the money I would buy a hundred ten thousand dollar lighthouse
(32:43):
Yeah, but I would all I mean given what we know now
I would also give it to some lighthouse lighthouse friends group like true
some someone to help take care of it and
Keep it around for more than just me
You gotta be prepared because it's gonna be your whole life
Like the amount of planning that has to go into like funding alone is insane. But also
(33:06):
like you got to pay to have a
Boat bring supplies like if you don't even think about all those little details
This is so far offshore and you got to have even the transportation of materials in order to do
Any sort of renovation would be insane. Well, even if you were
Super wealthy
Super wealthy multiple millions tens 20s 30s millions and this is a toy of yours like you just think it's cool
(33:35):
There's no standard
Services like like oh, I need a I need a house cleaner. So you hire one. I need someone to watch the kids
So you hire somebody? Oh, I need someone to paint my lighthouse
I need someone to check in on the foundation for the crib like you gotta have people that are really nodule
Nodule nodule nodule a lighthouse nudgeable
(33:58):
Knowledgeable each side or subject. Oh very
Very passionate based project. I'm sure
So if you go to their website, which will be linked in my show notes
they have a section that's called what you need to know if you're considering an overnight stay a white shawl light and
There's 19 points. A lot of them are about physical requirements that you have to climb a bunch of stairs and
(34:20):
Back and forth from like there's two bathroom floors and you don't stay on those floors. So you have to like climb back and forth
There's 143 steps from the deck to the lantern room
so it's just like a lot of climbing cell service is met and you need to bring food to cook during your stay yourself and
Water from the tap is straight from the lake. So you have to bring bottled water for drinking
(34:42):
Yeah, it's kind of like you it's an like you have your little camping. Yes. It's super cool, though
And once you're on the station, you are not removed until it is safe to do
So even if that means you stay an extra night or two
Which you don't get charged for but if you're like planning on flying home the next day and you have to stay
Do you know do they have?
(35:02):
Heating and like hot water cold air
The AC say yes to hot water
But no to AC and no to heat
Wonder what it'd be like on the lake. I mean, obviously it's weather dependent
But like in the middle of summer
Right now right now. It's the end of July early August. So like what is it? What's the temperature of the lighthouse wonder?
(35:26):
But they said it's really high humidity, which is what like kind of leads to the discomfort in the lighthouse
but then they also talked about all of the
The windows that are across from each other so you get like a nice cross breeze going if you have all the windows open
That's awesome. You open so I took this quote straight from their website
Quote you are signing up to stay at a hundred and ten year old
(35:46):
Historic structure that is currently in the process of being restored
You'll be provided clean private rooms and modern bathrooms during your stay
There are however many areas of the lighthouse that are still in their 1976 abandoned state
Complete with flaking paint spiders and everything else you need you would expect to find in an old house
If you are envisioning modern tiled bathrooms and ornate guest quarters, this experience is not for you
(36:09):
All areas of the lighthouse are open for you to explore with the exception of our basement dungeon deck
What also when they say spiders I looked up what kind of spiders they're talking about because I think of like little spiders
They're talking about orb weavers. Have you seen what those look like? No, and how do they get to the lighthouse? I don't know
There's no one else asking that question they're talking about lots of them too. They're not like oh you may see one or two
(36:34):
It's like clusters of orb weavers. I don't know what that is
Okay, let me show you or be the cool name. I think they're harmless
I'm pretty sure they're harmless and you may recognize them because it sticks with you
These sons of it. Wow, they weave an orb long knobby legs bright colors large
Things you don't want to ever touch you a
(36:57):
Day in your life the venom amount comparable to the sting of a bee. Yeah, so unless you're allergic
It's not a problem. Just be
Very I think they're pretty tame so unlikely to bite you. You just bring a house cat with you. Oh my gosh
No, why you don't subject them to venom? Oh, I forgot about that part
We're the only ones that are important. I was thinking of the cats eating them
(37:19):
And not getting the venom
They pick it out. So another quote from their
List says there's a 90 minute boat ride that departs Mackinac City aboard our restored 30-foot Coast Guard utility boat, which is awesome
The boat has a small forward cabin for gear
But the passenger area is wide open to the elements depending on wind and wave conditions
(37:40):
You should plan on getting wet as well as your gear to and from the lighthouse. Yeah, so it's not glamorous
That's for sure. Also adventure is the best number 19
There has been paranormal activity reported by guests and staff at the light station
and
Adventure I want to go I
Want to be on a boat and the worst part is you can't even get away
(38:01):
So if you're freaked out by the spiders you're freaked out by the ghosts. How do the spiders get?
How far is this off the coast?
The spiders on the waterfront like walking along the water. Am I crazy for asking these questions?
Can spiders swim? Why would they swim out to a lighthouse?
Well, if they get stuck in the water they climb on to whatever they find
(38:22):
So there's like one clan of spiders that's like been there for a thousand years
Yeah
It's like the snakes we talked about snake island line where they become their own type of snake because they've been separated for so long
That would be crazy
Special orb weavers
It's still one of our biggest YouTube hits
(38:43):
Really?
I didn't get a lot of attention on our actual listener base
Anyway for two people to stay here. It is three thousand dollars for a three night adventure package
So definitely expensive and it has a five person maximum
But if you rent it out for five people you get fifteen hundred dollars off. So you get like a deal a little discount
(39:06):
1500
So is it three grand for the whole thing for a couple? Yeah, cuz like
Can another couple stay there? There's three floors
There's one floor that can have two people one floor that has one person and another floor that has two people
Okay, so you basically book a floor, huh?
And then in between each of those so if you book the whole place they give you a not a break
(39:27):
Yeah, they give you a discount for booking
Well, I don't think I can afford that right now
Maybe I could stay outside. Maybe I could set up a tent be so cold
It doesn't matter what time of year it is the wind and everything like good night
That's pretty neat so they had a question that I put on here as well there was like frequently asked questions
(39:52):
So can we show up at the light station unannounced?
And it's just the description of what you have to do is just hilarious to me
Yes, you are welcome to come out to the light station at any time day or night to take pictures
That does not necessarily mean you will be granted access to the structure
If we happen to be open for tours, which is so funny like in the middle of nowhere like actually
Middle of nowhere in the water if we're open for tours
(40:16):
Like if you just show up in the middle of the water and we're open, I just think it's funny
There's just someone sitting there at a table. Yeah, we're open. It's like how often do people come by here?
Anyway, if we happen to be open for tours upon your arrival
We will have a safe place for you to tie up
Then we will lower you down a bucket the bucket will contain the liability waiver as well as instructions on how to pay the $30 per person fee
(40:41):
Obviously, it will be easier to have this all pre arranged
So I think you can call and plan to show up at the lighthouse. How far is this offshore?
I tried to look it up, but it's a 90 minute boat ride. So it's obviously not close. Is that the closest?
Mackinaw City is the closest port. No, I don't think so
I don't think so because that's 20 miles. Do you think 20 miles is closest? There's no way there's got to be some
(41:06):
I mean, they're big lakes. I guess it's hard to look up distance from a shoreline
I tried it several times with lighthouses and it just gets difficult before they had to scale it on Google Maps. Yeah
Anyways, that's crazy
Once the waiver is signed and
Restoration fee has been paid you and your guests will be invited onto the structure for a 90 minute guided tour
So I just thought it was funny. We'll lower you down a bucket
(41:29):
Like cute
So the lighthouse this year is closed for renovations. They've been doing it since 2018
Which I'm gonna show you their plan their renovation plan
But I don't think it's been updated since the whole coven thing happened
So I bet it's pushed back a few years, especially because right now you can tell that the exterior paint hasn't been fixed yet
(41:51):
And that was supposed to happen in the first phase of their restoration. So I'll show I'll pull that up
Right now but they're closed this year last year. They were open for people to stay and next year
They're planning to be open again
2025 nice phase one was supposed to be 18 to 21 and it was basically like getting rid of the lead paint and asbestos
(42:13):
Asbestos full engineering evaluation to figure out what had to be done. There's like all kinds of heavy reworking
Stabilizing the structure. So like really big stuff
They were gonna launch the tugboat Titan to transport machinery supplies and personnel from the lighthouse. That's pretty cool
All that kind of stuff install new windows interior paint prep and then new exterior paint was supposed to happen in that first phase
(42:37):
So I couldn't really find what phase they're in right now. I want to say maybe they're still in the first phase. I don't know
But second phase was supposed to be 22 through 24. That was like continued restoration through the inside
Damaged glass panes in the lantern room decorative railings, etc. Rebuild massive boat house doors, which I would love to see
(42:59):
And then the last phase was 2020 for 2025 and was a lot of
Outfitting the inside with the 1950s memorabilia that we're gonna have an on-site gift shop a maritime museum
And then they would have full staffing and day tours and overnight bookings and all that
So it'll come back. Yeah, so much work. I hope so crazy
(43:20):
I this is a little silly to say if you've listened to a lot of our episodes
you know this or if you're in the Lighthouses, you know this but I
It's a huge effort within the entire community of lighthouse folks to connect with resources
Mainly funding. Yeah, I don't know their their business. Obviously. I don't know what's going on here
like how that funding situation is but I
(43:45):
Early on I discovered when we were getting into this a need
You know one of the many lighthouses that was asking for fundraising for a certain program
Yeah, and I made a donation. I just thought it was super cool. You know this and that and
I'm sure it did nothing. Like yeah, I I
(44:07):
This is easy for me to say it. It's always yeah
It's always easy to say this but like my what I can donate at this time is just not significant
But if we did have people being involved
It's like the conversation we had recently with Jeremy to extra month about how to get people younger folks like ourselves
into lighthouse culture
(44:28):
Vested how do we help out? How do we get tied in?
And obviously there's a lot of people doing a lot of work to do that. But right. Yeah, I'm sure there's people out there
They're looking to to donate to some cause. Yeah. So, do you know are we going to talk about is there an avenue?
Easily available to do it
Which I have in the show notes you can donate and also you can volunteer which they're not doing right now because
(44:54):
they're
Closed for like actual restoration. That's why I'm assuming that they're still in phase one
It's like they can't have anybody come in probably because they're working with like the lead paint and asbestos
Professionals and then volunteers in between probably right cool
Yeah
So nowadays it has a white flash every five seconds and you can also purchase a license for a
Lighthouse and you can also purchase a license plate
(45:17):
I think it's just in Michigan where it has the lighthouse on it and it goes towards like the funds the extra funds goes to
That's cool lighthouse preservation
Very cool. Their Facebook is a great way to keep up to date with everything to do with the lighthouse
They post I saw every couple of days. Maybe it's more than that sometimes but they they really keep up to date on what's going on
The lighthouse so that's also in our show notes. What is the group called that manages the lighthouse?
(45:42):
Shol light historical preservation society. Thank you. I
Know you said that no
White shul is also this is interesting a part of Glen Great Lakes evaporation network the same group that tracks data at
Standard Rock with the superior watershed project
So it's one of several lighthouses that collect environmental data out there make sense. Yeah unique point
(46:04):
Yeah, more point last year. They sent out four bottles with notes in them and free nights like certificates
Whoa, lighthouse into the lake from the lighthouse. They just threw them out
And they showed up on shore and people like picked them up and got free nights at the lighthouse
And you know what they sent that we don't bottles they sent about in coke boom. Boom. No way
(46:26):
No, boo. Yeah, that's a for those of you who don't know it's a rum that we we quite enjoy. It's very sweet
Very good. But yeah, it's got a nice flavor to it. It looks like a pirate bottle. It's got a cork top
Yes, it has like the skull not skull and crossbones but like the crossbones on it
Which is why I'm sure they selected them is because it was it's a really cool bottle. That's so funny
But uh, I just saw something about it. I was like, oh, that's neat
(46:49):
I wasn't gonna make a note about it and then I saw an article that had a picture of what the bottles looked like and I
Was like that's boo. There you go. Shout out to boom boo. And I think they may be doing it again this year as well
They did that last year and only one bottle never made it back to shore. It's still floating somewhere
Yeah, just out there stuck in the permafrost
Yeah, right
(47:10):
Yeah, that's the story of white shul light house
Awesome. Really cool lighthouse. Yeah, I love the stripey's we love red. Maybe they're using what is it called?
Teneemic. Teneemic. I would be surprised. Yeah, I don't I don't believe it's a cheap product. Yeah, right
Nothing but the best for our lighthouses. Yeah, if we can afford it if we can when we can afford it. Yeah
(47:37):
Very neat. Mm-hmm. Well, thank you very much. You're welcome. Thanks to all of our listeners for showing up
We keep going strong and we're excited that you're listening and thank you to all of our new listeners for popping in just giving us a shot
Appreciate you. Yeah, you can follow us on
YouTube and Instagram at the lighthouse lowdown
(48:01):
You can check out our website the lighthouse lowdown.com where you can listen to our episodes and also check out our YouTube videos
And you can also leave us a review if you enjoyed this episode, please do we love to see them
And we'll catch you next time. Oh
Hi everyone, I'm Emily.
(00:02):
And I'm Vince.
And this is the Lighthouse Lowdown.
Welcome to the Lighthouse Lowdown.
Thank you.
We're in a new place, a new space I should say once again.
Yeah, riprap version four or five.
(00:24):
This is going to be our permanent spot but we need to figure out some.
Wait for a while.
Let's go.
Need to figure out some deets.
Yep.
But I'll jump right into it today.
I think it might be a little bit of a long one.
Oh nice.
I'm going to start off by saying that Wednesday, this coming Wednesday the seventh is National
Lighthouse Day.
(00:45):
So if you live near a lighthouse, it's more than likely that they're going to have some
kind of special event or you know, a party.
In the United States, National Lighthouse Day?
Very cool.
Our international listeners will have to dance along.
Speaking of dance, what's the news there?
I don't know.
We probably talked about it last year.
(01:05):
But the USLHS is doing a dance competition where as long as you have like a lighthouse
or a lightship or something in the background, you do a dance to a specific song and submit
it and then winners get cash prizes.
Oh, I'm definitely going to submit.
Well, we are going to because the submission deadline is I think August 25th and we're
(01:29):
going to be near lighthouses by August 21st.
Heck yeah, Cape Cod.
So it'll be a very fast edit, very fast filming and everything else.
We'll do a little short episode.
But I would like to participate.
And instead the submission can be as short or as long as you want it to be.
So like 15 hours of us dancing.
(01:50):
Maybe not on loop like that.
No, not on loop continuously.
Oh, well, you'd be kind of tired from all the travel cocktails help for questions about
it.
You can directly email Jeremy at USLHS dot org.
All right, do it very good.
Now on to our history of buoy.
I'm going to talk about lighthouse coatings.
(02:10):
I think coat, coat, coat.
Yeah, like a jacket, like a jacket, a lighthouse jacket.
So obviously the coating depends on the material of the lighthouse and its location.
And what works for one lighthouse isn't going to work for all lighthouses.
And there's a couple of lighthouses we've covered that have special coatings.
(02:30):
Like Ochre Coke, like Ochre Coke, that big stubby little reminder.
We talked about that in our Outer Banks episode and it had a coating made of lime, salt, rice,
whiting and clear glue, which was mixed with boiling water before being put onto the lighthouse.
(02:50):
Did you say rice?
Yes, ground rice.
Awesome.
Did not see that coming.
I know.
It was just the strangest concoction.
So we don't have a lot of like that today, but that was what they used to protect Ochre
Coke, a very high humidity environment onto a brick lighthouse.
So honestly, it was permeable and need some help, which that even didn't protect the lighthouse.
(03:15):
Like the brick is needs some help these days.
So yeah, but it's been a while, a long time.
Yeah, Masonry often had a sacrificial layer of stucco, is it?
Stucco or lime mortar wash that would erode over time instead of the stone.
Yeah, that is kind of what I'm thinking.
Ochre Coke might have been like too, is just that it was sealed and kind of took the beating
(03:38):
instead of the lighthouse.
And then they because they reapplied it like every year, maybe like twice a year or something.
Yeah, I didn't know that.
Yeah, it was like one of the keepers jobs was reapplying that.
It was I wonder if it's added up over time, you know, to because its shape is kind of
rounded almost.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, not even but all like I remember touching it and looking up as some photos I took from
(04:04):
the very base of it, just kind of looking up as close as you can to it right by the
door.
Yeah.
And I was like, how is that applied?
It looks like it was applied by hand.
Well, guess what it was.
And I kind of feel stupid.
Of course it was.
What are they going to put that thing in a spray booth?
Roll it in.
We actually talk about that today, too.
No way.
(04:24):
No, I'm actually surprised.
Well, actually, talk a little.
I'm not quite done with my history, but we'll talk a couple talk about a couple of these
points today.
So obviously, since Ochre Coke, things have evolved a lot and lighthouses need protection
now more than ever because they're in serious danger of like falling apart unless there's
somebody taking care of them.
(04:45):
So it's better to have a strong protective coating than to constantly having to do maintenance,
which has to be done anyway.
That makes sense.
They got enough work to do out there.
Yeah.
So commonly these days we see acrylic polyurethane on metal, stone, and brick lighthouses plus
(05:07):
all of like bolts and railings and things.
And this substance often resembles a cross between plastic and rubber.
So it's flexible, but also really strong.
Trinity House, which is a UK maritime charity, we've talked about it a lot.
It oversees the lighthouses.
Did an FAQ on the subject and they said they have two systems depending on the lighthouse
(05:28):
material and location.
So aside from the polyurethane mentioned, they also use mono-lastex smooth on render,
which render is just a mixture of sand and cement.
This mono-lastex smooth is a water-based waterproof substance that also resists mold fungus and
also has really good vapor permeability.
(05:48):
So it's great on like brick, but also on concrete.
And it also comes in a lot of colors.
So it's like a coating, but also a paint.
That's really interesting.
Yeah.
So you mentioned, don't let me take you too far off track.
Oh no.
Render being a mix of cement and sand.
So I'm going to oversimplify it.
(06:08):
But I think, I mean, there's different classifications of sand and aggregate and whatnot.
But, so cement is the slurry and concrete is a mixture of cement and aggregate.
So if you were to take cement and sand and mix it together, you'd have concrete more
or less.
The reason I bring that up is I saw a video, it's like two or three minutes recently, of
(06:33):
a woman, another podcast.
I can't tell you which one, because I don't remember.
She was talking about how we're running out of sand, like as a natural resource.
Apparently there's only so much sand that's perfect for construction.
Like there's certain sand grades you need for making glass, certain sand grades you
need for making concrete.
The cost of like refining sand makes it not worth it if you can't just go get it from
(06:59):
somewhere and then transporting it's super expensive too, because it's heavy.
So anyways, apparently they like the Burj Dubai, that really tall building.
Apparently they imported sand, even though it's in the desert, because the desert sand
is not fit to make concrete.
I never thought about that.
So all sand is not created equal.
I wonder what my coffee brain said was, I wonder if render is another like English,
(07:26):
British English word for concrete or if they're very different.
I'm not sure.
They're different.
I just looked it up.
It's actually mostly a protective coating.
So that monolastic, I'm away from here so I can't record it.
Monolastic smooth goes on top of render and render is a protective coating usually used
(07:46):
on masonry, but it's a mixture of sand, water, cement and lime.
Has a fire rating and waterproof qualities and also holds aesthetic appeal.
Well, render me educated.
Good one.
Right, and then Trinity House also said for offshore lighthouses that take more of a beating,
they use a liquid plastics product, but they don't specify what that is.
(08:08):
Like an epoxy, I bet.
Yeah, probably.
Nasty stuff.
Been a lot more tough.
For paint that needs to remain really bright, this is fun.
Teneimic is a brand that's been used for several lighthouses that have red roofs, such as St.
Augustine and South Pier Lighthouse.
It has a high solids, fluoropolymer, think Teflon.
(08:30):
That's exciting.
No, I am excited.
Teneimic is an awesome brand.
So they worked with me at my first job and then now my current job.
And they make paints, not all of their paints, but some of their paints are actually insulating.
So you can coat a pipe with paint and it insulates it.
(08:51):
It's not as good as fiberglass insulation.
And some of their paints are really super strong, which makes sense for outdoor use
so that you can put steel pipe outdoor and just not worry about it anymore.
Not worry about it corroding is what I mean.
Very cool.
Sorry to interrupt.
Very cool.
But you get what I'm talking about.
And I actually have a koozie in our kitchen from Teneimic.
(09:13):
No way.
And it's like a paint can design.
What a weird small world.
That little text on the back says something like, you know, contains like delicious drink
or something silly like that.
That's funny.
Yeah, you nodded with Teneimic and I was like, don't nod as if you know what I'm talking
about.
(09:33):
The people can't see you nod.
I do know what you're talking about.
That's awesome.
But anyway, this layer goes after the polyurethane layer, which has high color and gloss retention
even when exposed to high UV for years.
So like a lot of lighthouses we see the red turns into a very light pink over like not
that much time.
So this kind of battles that where you keep that bright day mark.
(09:56):
That's so important without having to reapply all the time.
That's awesome.
Which is something we'll see with the lighthouse today as well.
We're going to be talking about white shoal lighthouse, which we mentioned in episode
43 with Mackinac.
Mackinac.
(10:17):
I looked off like Mackinac.
Mackinac.
Memories of Mackinac.
Mackinac Point.
Mackinac.
That's right by the long bridge that's north.
The Mackinac Bridge.
Great Lake Superior and.
Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse.
I'm sorry.
(10:37):
I knew that there were several words and I was like, if I try, then I won't cover it.
I got to look it up.
But anyway, that was episode 43 and this one is 20 miles west of the Mackinac Bridge.
Cool.
Out in the open.
So we're heading back up to the Straits of Mackinac.
This straight connected Lake Huron and Lake Michigan connects and had fairly high traffic,
(10:58):
especially towards like the late 1800s.
It also had a lot of shoals, which is just areas of shallow water.
OK.
So they each needed to be marked now that more people were starting to come to the street.
So the most shallow Simmons Reef was only three feet deep and Congress approved sixty
thousand dollars for a lighthouse to be built there in 1889.
(11:19):
But a survey of the area showed that they couldn't build a lighthouse there for less
than one hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
At that time, that was like that amount today is five million dollars.
Can you imagine looking at that and being like, oh, it's probably about five million.
It's like the the memes, the guy from Pond Stars.
Best I can do is five million.
(11:40):
What?
I don't know that.
It's just like it's a have you heard of Pond Stars like the TV show?
What?
Yes.
I think you're saying Pond Stars.
No, that would be more.
That makes sense.
But there's just this image that goes around when they're like negotiating, like anyone
selling their car on Facebook or whatever.
And it shows the bald guy like slap the counter and it's best I can do is and then he says
(12:05):
the price number.
Yeah.
So that doesn't translate very well, but maybe I'll insert it here.
People that do know it would probably get a kick out.
There's going to be a couple out there.
Yeah, just a couple.
You're welcome.
The Lighthouse Board requested the other ninety thousand dollars, but they also asked that
the original sixty thousand be used for light ships that would mark each of the most the
(12:25):
three most shallow areas.
Light ships.
Yes.
Stationary light ships get towed out there and left.
Cool.
Yeah.
So Simmons Reef, Grays Reef and White Shoals were the ones that they were looking at.
And Congress approved this in eighteen ninety one.
So at that point, three one hundred foot wooden light ships with fog signals and steam propulsion,
(12:47):
which is important because these were the first US light vessels to have self propelling
engines.
But they still had to be towed out there.
So maybe it was just like, I don't know if they're self propelling.
Why do they need help?
They had steam engines.
They were towed out there and they were stationary.
Yeah.
And what was the light on them?
(13:07):
Was it electric at the time?
Or was the boat was the ship itself just brightly colored?
It had a lot.
We need to do a history on light ships because I thought we had.
I think we talked about.
Maybe I'm thinking of a different word.
Lighthouse tenders is what I'm thinking.
Oh, no.
(13:28):
Not lightship.
Yeah, these are lightships.
Although I can see how the terms would be confused.
I can see how I got confused.
Of course, that makes sense for smart people to think those things.
But anyway, these were built by the Blythe Craig Shipbuilding Company of Toledo, Ohio,
and were towed to their spots by October of that same year with LV 55, just light vessel
(13:51):
55 at Simmons Reef, 56 at White Shoal and 57 at Grace, which I had to look up all of
those individually.
So go me.
Good for you.
Thank you.
It's quality research.
Quality research.
So LV 56, which is the one at White Shoals was attached to a five ton sinker by 15 fathoms
(14:11):
of two inch chain.
Heck yeah.
We talked fathoms early on.
I saw the fathoms and I was like, oh, I got to bring this up for Vince.
Anyway, life was not too agreeable on this vessel, allegedly, with the entire crew abandoning
the ship against orders within three weeks.
That's fast.
Yeah.
So then of course they were all fired and then a new crew was found.
(14:32):
But it just shows that it was pretty rough.
Yeah.
Being stationed out on a light ship was not the same as being stationed on a lighthouse.
It's a lighthouse that rocks all the time.
Yeah.
And not as like protective, I would think.
Right.
Oh yeah.
The rocking would.
I've seen videos of people in the Coast Guard or like in the Navy and it just shows them
(14:52):
like walking sideways on like a desk.
Yes.
Because it's waves are so crazy.
Yeah.
I have I've never been on a boat like that.
Yeah.
I've been on a couple of rocking boats, but nothing large where, well, we're going to
stay out in a storm.
No.
Yeah.
Never.
(15:12):
I can't imagine it.
So finally in 1907.
So this is a pretty late lighthouse.
1907 Congress put aside $250,000, which is $8.5 million in today's money.
It's crazy.
For a lighthouse and fog house to be built on White Shoal since the current vessel had
to be removed during winter months due to ice.
And so they wanted something that was going to be there year round.
(15:35):
No problem.
So the foundation work was awarded to the lowest bidder for $93,785 plus 60 cents.
I'm like so specific.
Very firm price.
With Gillen Construction Company of Milwaukee.
May 1908 construction started.
The rock was leveled and 400,000 square feet of timber cribbing was built onshore and then
(15:57):
towed over to site.
And then they sunk it onto the shoal that they had prepped with 4,000 tons of rock and
3,600 cubic yards of concrete.
There's a really great old photo showing this crib before the lighthouse was built on top.
Because it was incredible.
Like a two year endeavor.
Wow.
There's a picture.
(16:17):
And it's funny because in the photo it looks short.
But then you see the man standing on the side.
I'm pretty sure it was 20 feet above sea level.
The total height of just the crib.
Yeah.
If he's looking, I mean maybe not the average back then, but let's say six foot.
Yeah.
Three of him plus any of those gentlemen.
Yeah.
(16:38):
That's crazy.
Pretty cool to see a good photo from early 1900s.
Of the construction.
Right.
And they usually have pictures, especially in like National Archives and in like USLHS,
they have pictures of the half completed lighthouse or like the lighthouse without the lantern
room, but never of like just the foundation or something like that.
So it's special to have a photo that actually clearly shows this crib being built.
(17:03):
It's pretty cool.
It is.
On top of that, they had a reinforced concrete pier built 20 feet above the water line to
support the lighthouse.
And then by the time this was completed, winter was approaching, so they erected a skeleton
tower with a temporary acetylene light on top.
Keep touching this coffee and it's like super condensate.
(17:24):
In the industry, we say it's sweating.
In the industry.
Isn't that like a normal human word for this?
Probably.
But also in the industry.
In 1909, the pier was completed as was the exterior of the steel and concrete lighthouse
aside from the lantern room.
And this is what I was talking about earlier.
It was coated with gunite after completion, which is just sprayed concrete.
(17:48):
So like the outside, like its coating was sprayed.
I don't know.
I feel like that would be not the cleanest application.
So 1909 is when we're talking.
Yeah.
When do they, I don't mean to jump ahead of you.
We'll keep going.
The light was established in September of 1910 and LV 56 was reassigned to North Manitou
(18:12):
Shoals, which got its own lighthouse in 1935.
So super late, only three years before Coast Guard took over.
So what was it?
1912 was or 1911 somewhere in there.
The Titanic sank.
Oh, right.
Yeah.
Why does that feel like?
I want to say 1910 to 13, somewhere in there.
I should know these things.
(18:32):
But the reason I bring it up is just, so I've considered doing an episode on lighthouse
construction.
1912, good one.
Yeah, look at me.
But one of the reasons I haven't yet is that there's so many different eras in technologies
and so many different ways people have built lighthouses and parts of them.
So it's something more I was going to be able to talk about.
(18:54):
But I was thinking about like, you know, this day in history, what was going on with construction
and something.
I took a class in college, mechanics of materials and materials.
And one of the things we talked about was the Titanic as an example of steel production.
So there's a ductile to brittle transition temperature, DBTT.
(19:16):
And I probably said this before on the podcast.
But at a certain degree, untreated steel, meaning steel that is not blended with other
metals, which is alloying.
Steel will become brittle to where if you introduce a crack, like with a iceberg, the
steel actually sheared like a piece of paper.
(19:38):
It cracked as if it were porcelain, you know, which is something that was a lesson learned
of that time.
But that's crazy to me that you had World War One go on shortly after that, early 1910s,
I think.
And then, you know, it can continue down the ramble ramble ramble all through technology
(20:01):
and history.
But right now, like these folks are building this structure, not knowing so many things
that we know today.
Yeah.
And in some way, kind of doing a better job.
Because it's all they got.
They're doing all they got.
But all these these men are all tradesmen.
They're all specialists.
You know, I'm sure it wasn't an easy life.
But it's so interesting to me that people were so skilled.
(20:24):
And they just really gambled on themselves.
They bet on themselves like, yeah, we can build it.
Like the low bidder won the cribbing contracts we're talking about.
Yeah, there's like, we can make it happen.
Have they ever even done one before?
Yeah, true.
Yeah, that would be a good a little add on like what's going on in construction, because
it's like, is it revolutionary at that time?
Or was it like something that they're well versed in?
(20:48):
Yeah, interesting.
Yeah.
The 1912 annual report of the Commissioner of Lighthouses said, quote, I'm doing a lot
of reading in this episode because it's it's better sometimes straight from the horse's
mouth.
But quote, the deck of the pier supports an ornamental cylindrical.
Wait a minute.
I have a photo.
Wait a minute.
(21:09):
Pop that photo.
Here we've got the completed lighthouse.
Oh, it's pretty.
Yes.
And that black band around the bottom, it was like 38 feet up, I want to say.
It says it later in my notes.
No way.
But it counted as its day mark is this black band.
That is cool.
It's an iron.
Well, maybe not iron.
It looks metal.
Is that wood or metal?
(21:30):
It's concrete painted, I believe.
Even cooler.
I could be wrong.
This is a very cool lighthouse.
And I love the little ship that's next to the entry ladder.
I think that's so cute.
Do you want to describe it for our listeners only?
Lighthouse?
Only listeners, not watchers.
Yeah.
It's all white, has lots of windows, which they say today is really nice because there's
(21:51):
no AC.
And so air blows straight through the lighthouse and there's always like at least a breeze,
usually high winds.
So it's actually pretty comfortable in there when it gets hot.
All white.
You can see the brick pattern.
It has a aluminum lantern room.
So it was like very bright and reflective.
And I think it was the only aluminum one on the Great Lakes at the very least.
(22:12):
Pretty neat.
I think 125 feet from the pier.
So above water level, it was like 145 or something.
It's beautiful.
Maybe more.
I can't remember.
Cool day mark, kind of that low black band.
The windows are all tall, rectangular, except for the upper level, which I don't remember
(22:32):
what that's called.
And it's got some faux.
So I didn't get to research too far into this, but this picture shows it really well.
These massive front doors you can see in comparison of the guy that's standing up front.
They're metal doors.
And it's because there was a boat inside the bottom of the lighthouse that they would take
out to use.
I think it was a motorboat or at least it was in like in the future from this image.
(22:57):
Yeah.
Very cool.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
So I get get back to my quote.
I was like, oh my gosh, wait, I have a photo.
So the deck of the pier supports an ornamental cylindrical base for a conical shaped tower
surmounted by a cylindrical service room, watch room and first order helical bar lantern
whose focal plane is 105 feet above the deck of the pier.
(23:18):
The tower is of structural steel backed with brick and faced with terracotta with certain
cast iron parts and trimmings and with a gallery deck watch room and lantern made of aluminum.
It goes on to describe the floors, which I'll pull up a picture for those are watching of
a breakdown of what the floors look like.
Out there are four keepers at the station.
(23:39):
The tower is nine stories in height, including the cellar on the in the interior of the pier,
which contains the oil tanks.
Above this is the first floor on level with deck of pier outside containing rooms for
the fog signal machinery, heating plant stores, closets and powerboat.
The powerboat is the thing we were talking about that needed the big doors on the second
(23:59):
floor are tool room, bathroom and kitchen store room.
The third floor contains kitchen, living room and bedroom, the fourth floor, two bedrooms,
toilet, etc.
The fifth floor, a bedroom and general sitting room.
The sixth and seventh one large room each.
The eighth contains the service room, which is immediately below the watch room of the
lantern.
(24:19):
The stairs are not centrally located but are amply provided for near the outer walls of
the tower.
Supplies are landed directly on the pier from the tender and the keeper's powerboat is stowed
within the tower in a corridor on the first floor and the rowboat on the pier outside.
That was all from the annual report of the commissioner of lighthouse.
Very official.
Yeah.
So that mechanical room, the eighth floor, that's the one that I was pointing out has
(24:42):
porthole windows in it.
Oh, really?
Yeah.
Very cool.
And then it's that's the cylindrical room, I would say above the conical area.
But I really hope this is still there.
What?
This lighthouse.
It is.
It's still there.
Oh, let's go.
It's pretty cool.
They have a lot of awesome current history going on right now.
(25:05):
Come on, Michigan.
Let's go.
Let's go.
So they had a second order flashing lens on a mercury float, which is another history
buoy I'm going to do is I found some some data on mercury floats, like how they came
to be and like their downfall and all that.
We talked a little bit about them.
We did at some point.
Yeah.
(25:25):
And who was it that told us?
We were wrong
That was Fred Stonehouse Fred. Yes, so maybe I'm stepping on your material
But Fred mentioned a lot of the Great Lakes Lighthouses are not mercury floats. I can't remember why
The main reason is that
(25:46):
So this is a good example. Actually. The main reason is that Great Lakes
Did not often have anything more than a fourth order lens. Okay, they weren't that heavy
So you didn't need something like a mercury float in order to rotate the lens
You could just use clockwork and it wouldn't put a bunch of stress on anything wasn't heavy enough
But the second order lens is the largest that's ever been on the Great Lakes
(26:06):
and so they needed something like a mercury float to reduce the
Pressure. Yeah, so it could still reduce the friction so it could still rotate. Yeah, right. Cool. I'm excited to learn more
Yeah, so this lens was lit by mineral oil that was pumped from the bottom of the station, which is like 125 feet
It's a lot of head. It's a lot. Yeah, and we talked a lot about how keepers had to lug
(26:29):
buckets or you know containers of oil up all the stairs
So it's it's nice that this lighthouse was built in a time where you could just install a pump
I'm curious how that yeah, it's 19 something. So they were around. I'm curious what style of pump and all that
I'm studying. I'm studying for my professional engineering license exam
And I one of the sections I read last night was the various types of pumps at least for HVAC use
(26:54):
Yes
So the lens was rotated by clockwork with hanging weights with run rotation every 32 seconds
I have a picture here. I think the photo was taken in the 90s
But this is this was the the second order lens that we had it was by valve or clam shell time
Pretty the largest we ever had in the Great Lakes
(27:16):
Lots of copper there's this neat photo of when it was being assembled or maybe taken apart of just the bullseye
Which I thought was awesome because we've never seen one half taken apart super cool. No, I have not
I wonder if they have bolts that go in those copper sections
Or how that works. You know, they've got to be easily replaceable when something's damaged or scratched
(27:38):
I see in that that bullseye image on the right. It looks like holes. Yeah, maybe they're tapped for screws
Mm-hmm interesting. So yeah, currently it's at a shipwreck museum at Whitefish Point light station in
Michigan somewhere. I'm thinking of Montana. Obviously that's not I don't think there's any lighthouses in Montana
But yeah Paradise Michigan's where it's located cool. It's a skeleton light never looked up. It's pretty. Oh my gosh
(28:04):
Lots of buildings another one to add the list
So the total cost of this lighthouse being built ended up being
two hundred and twenty four and a half thousand dollars they saw with a skill 500 bucks under
Under budget 25,000 underneath. Oh
Nice, I would have said 500 and kept the cash
(28:24):
That's unethical not really it's not ethical sweetheart for everyone out there that knows me that's not actually true
So, let's see another fun point is that this is the tallest lighthouse on the Great Lakes today
Oh cool. I didn't know that it doesn't look that tall from you know
We've talked about this lighthouses that are just out in the middle like corridor one
(28:48):
Yeah with nothing next to it. Nothing to gauge the size of it
It doesn't look like it's that tall but it's still pretty tall for a Great Lakes to have a second order and
Be over a hundred feet tall is like whoa
So 1930 there's not a lot that happened to this lighthouse
so it's mostly like current things that are really exciting, but in 1930 the Illuminate was changed electricity and
(29:11):
Originally it was a white tower as you could see in the older photos that we showed
And I had a narrow black band at 38 feet. So yep, that's a pretty early transition. Go ahead in
1927 it was changed to a all-black lighthouse
Which painted black was not common at all?
But when you think about it, it's against sky and water so black would stand out
(29:35):
Especially if the Sun's coming down and it's like yeah the lights reflecting like would you see white as well as you would see black?
I don't think so. Well and at nighttime, it's gonna be black anyways, right?
I mean the lights all you're gonna see the day mark is not really relevant at night. Black is interesting
Yeah, and then of course, it's
Michigan so the ice gets crazy in the winter so it's important to distinguish it from that that makes sense
(29:59):
But they repainted it back to white ten years after that in 1937. Wonder why the ten years?
There's got to be lessons learned. Yeah, maybe there's a wreck or maybe it was expensive
Got dirty. I think black must have been a lot more expensive than white black cars are hard to keep clean. So
Oh 1954 white Scholes got the red spiral markings that we see today
(30:28):
Barber shop candy cane, what are we talking? Barber shop and candy cane refer to the same
This is what we originally had and there was black and then back to this original and now we have
This barbershop, which is the only that's cool. The only barbershop
Striped lighthouse in the US and only candy striped light on the Great Lakes. Really? Yeah, it's the only one
(30:51):
Mm-hmm. I wonder if it's always been the only one. Is that ice by the way? Yes, the amount of ice is insane
I have a picture later that kind of shows like a glacier cliff next to one of them or next to the lighthouse
It's kind of crazy. That makes me nervous
By the way, I meant red and white barber striped is it's the only one in the US because we have like Kay Patras and
(31:11):
St. Augustine which are a barber stripe, but they're black and white
Yeah, so just to specify and this is red in a black and white photo. Yes, very cool
You see if I have a photo?
Of it in color. Oh, yeah, awesome and embedded in ice
Well, and that makes sense too because it's on a three foot deep water area the shoal
(31:34):
And so the water is gonna be able to freeze there before and in deeper water and climb up over time
That looks cold very Christmassy. Yeah, it is cute. Nice Christmas card
1976 the station was automated and de-staffed as were the lights on Grays Reef and Lansing shoals. So late
electrified early automated late interesting in May
(31:57):
2014 so we're skipping ahead White Shoals lighthouse was deemed excess by the Coast Guard and made available under the guidelines of the National Historic
Lighthouse Preservation Act, but nobody claimed it because it would have been
So expensive. Yeah to
fix
Especially after being abandoned for decades. Oh
76 to 14. Yep. That's a lifetime. It's a long time for me
(32:21):
It was put up for bid with a starting amount of $15,000 and at the end of the high bid was
$110,000 and $9 to what would become the White Shoal light historical preservation society with the goal to fix it up to
1950s condition and make it available to the public for people to stay at I like that
Yeah, I know I like it when they make it vintage if I had the money I would buy a hundred ten thousand dollar lighthouse
(32:43):
Yeah, but I would all I mean given what we know now
I would also give it to some lighthouse lighthouse friends group like true
some someone to help take care of it and
Keep it around for more than just me
You gotta be prepared because it's gonna be your whole life
Like the amount of planning that has to go into like funding alone is insane. But also
(33:06):
like you got to pay to have a
Boat bring supplies like if you don't even think about all those little details
This is so far offshore and you got to have even the transportation of materials in order to do
Any sort of renovation would be insane. Well, even if you were
Super wealthy
Super wealthy multiple millions tens 20s 30s millions and this is a toy of yours like you just think it's cool
(33:35):
There's no standard
Services like like oh, I need a I need a house cleaner. So you hire one. I need someone to watch the kids
So you hire somebody? Oh, I need someone to paint my lighthouse
I need someone to check in on the foundation for the crib like you gotta have people that are really nodule
Nodule nodule nodule a lighthouse nudgeable
(33:58):
Knowledgeable each side or subject. Oh very
Very passionate based project. I'm sure
So if you go to their website, which will be linked in my show notes
they have a section that's called what you need to know if you're considering an overnight stay a white shawl light and
There's 19 points. A lot of them are about physical requirements that you have to climb a bunch of stairs and
(34:20):
Back and forth from like there's two bathroom floors and you don't stay on those floors. So you have to like climb back and forth
There's 143 steps from the deck to the lantern room
so it's just like a lot of climbing cell service is met and you need to bring food to cook during your stay yourself and
Water from the tap is straight from the lake. So you have to bring bottled water for drinking
(34:42):
Yeah, it's kind of like you it's an like you have your little camping. Yes. It's super cool, though
And once you're on the station, you are not removed until it is safe to do
So even if that means you stay an extra night or two
Which you don't get charged for but if you're like planning on flying home the next day and you have to stay
Do you know do they have?
(35:02):
Heating and like hot water cold air
The AC say yes to hot water
But no to AC and no to heat
Wonder what it'd be like on the lake. I mean, obviously it's weather dependent
But like in the middle of summer
Right now right now. It's the end of July early August. So like what is it? What's the temperature of the lighthouse wonder?
(35:26):
But they said it's really high humidity, which is what like kind of leads to the discomfort in the lighthouse
but then they also talked about all of the
The windows that are across from each other so you get like a nice cross breeze going if you have all the windows open
That's awesome. You open so I took this quote straight from their website
Quote you are signing up to stay at a hundred and ten year old
(35:46):
Historic structure that is currently in the process of being restored
You'll be provided clean private rooms and modern bathrooms during your stay
There are however many areas of the lighthouse that are still in their 1976 abandoned state
Complete with flaking paint spiders and everything else you need you would expect to find in an old house
If you are envisioning modern tiled bathrooms and ornate guest quarters, this experience is not for you
(36:09):
All areas of the lighthouse are open for you to explore with the exception of our basement dungeon deck
What also when they say spiders I looked up what kind of spiders they're talking about because I think of like little spiders
They're talking about orb weavers. Have you seen what those look like? No, and how do they get to the lighthouse? I don't know
There's no one else asking that question they're talking about lots of them too. They're not like oh you may see one or two
(36:34):
It's like clusters of orb weavers. I don't know what that is
Okay, let me show you or be the cool name. I think they're harmless
I'm pretty sure they're harmless and you may recognize them because it sticks with you
These sons of it. Wow, they weave an orb long knobby legs bright colors large
Things you don't want to ever touch you a
(36:57):
Day in your life the venom amount comparable to the sting of a bee. Yeah, so unless you're allergic
It's not a problem. Just be
Very I think they're pretty tame so unlikely to bite you. You just bring a house cat with you. Oh my gosh
No, why you don't subject them to venom? Oh, I forgot about that part
We're the only ones that are important. I was thinking of the cats eating them
(37:19):
And not getting the venom
They pick it out. So another quote from their
List says there's a 90 minute boat ride that departs Mackinac City aboard our restored 30-foot Coast Guard utility boat, which is awesome
The boat has a small forward cabin for gear
But the passenger area is wide open to the elements depending on wind and wave conditions
(37:40):
You should plan on getting wet as well as your gear to and from the lighthouse. Yeah, so it's not glamorous
That's for sure. Also adventure is the best number 19
There has been paranormal activity reported by guests and staff at the light station
and
Adventure I want to go I
Want to be on a boat and the worst part is you can't even get away
(38:01):
So if you're freaked out by the spiders you're freaked out by the ghosts. How do the spiders get?
How far is this off the coast?
The spiders on the waterfront like walking along the water. Am I crazy for asking these questions?
Can spiders swim? Why would they swim out to a lighthouse?
Well, if they get stuck in the water they climb on to whatever they find
(38:22):
So there's like one clan of spiders that's like been there for a thousand years
Yeah
It's like the snakes we talked about snake island line where they become their own type of snake because they've been separated for so long
That would be crazy
Special orb weavers
It's still one of our biggest YouTube hits
(38:43):
Really?
I didn't get a lot of attention on our actual listener base
Anyway for two people to stay here. It is three thousand dollars for a three night adventure package
So definitely expensive and it has a five person maximum
But if you rent it out for five people you get fifteen hundred dollars off. So you get like a deal a little discount
(39:06):
1500
So is it three grand for the whole thing for a couple? Yeah, cuz like
Can another couple stay there? There's three floors
There's one floor that can have two people one floor that has one person and another floor that has two people
Okay, so you basically book a floor, huh?
And then in between each of those so if you book the whole place they give you a not a break
(39:27):
Yeah, they give you a discount for booking
Well, I don't think I can afford that right now
Maybe I could stay outside. Maybe I could set up a tent be so cold
It doesn't matter what time of year it is the wind and everything like good night
That's pretty neat so they had a question that I put on here as well there was like frequently asked questions
(39:52):
So can we show up at the light station unannounced?
And it's just the description of what you have to do is just hilarious to me
Yes, you are welcome to come out to the light station at any time day or night to take pictures
That does not necessarily mean you will be granted access to the structure
If we happen to be open for tours, which is so funny like in the middle of nowhere like actually
Middle of nowhere in the water if we're open for tours
(40:16):
Like if you just show up in the middle of the water and we're open, I just think it's funny
There's just someone sitting there at a table. Yeah, we're open. It's like how often do people come by here?
Anyway, if we happen to be open for tours upon your arrival
We will have a safe place for you to tie up
Then we will lower you down a bucket the bucket will contain the liability waiver as well as instructions on how to pay the $30 per person fee
(40:41):
Obviously, it will be easier to have this all pre arranged
So I think you can call and plan to show up at the lighthouse. How far is this offshore?
I tried to look it up, but it's a 90 minute boat ride. So it's obviously not close. Is that the closest?
Mackinaw City is the closest port. No, I don't think so
I don't think so because that's 20 miles. Do you think 20 miles is closest? There's no way there's got to be some
(41:06):
I mean, they're big lakes. I guess it's hard to look up distance from a shoreline
I tried it several times with lighthouses and it just gets difficult before they had to scale it on Google Maps. Yeah
Anyways, that's crazy
Once the waiver is signed and
Restoration fee has been paid you and your guests will be invited onto the structure for a 90 minute guided tour
So I just thought it was funny. We'll lower you down a bucket
(41:29):
Like cute
So the lighthouse this year is closed for renovations. They've been doing it since 2018
Which I'm gonna show you their plan their renovation plan
But I don't think it's been updated since the whole coven thing happened
So I bet it's pushed back a few years, especially because right now you can tell that the exterior paint hasn't been fixed yet
(41:51):
And that was supposed to happen in the first phase of their restoration. So I'll show I'll pull that up
Right now but they're closed this year last year. They were open for people to stay and next year
They're planning to be open again
2025 nice phase one was supposed to be 18 to 21 and it was basically like getting rid of the lead paint and asbestos
(42:13):
Asbestos full engineering evaluation to figure out what had to be done. There's like all kinds of heavy reworking
Stabilizing the structure. So like really big stuff
They were gonna launch the tugboat Titan to transport machinery supplies and personnel from the lighthouse. That's pretty cool
All that kind of stuff install new windows interior paint prep and then new exterior paint was supposed to happen in that first phase
(42:37):
So I couldn't really find what phase they're in right now. I want to say maybe they're still in the first phase. I don't know
But second phase was supposed to be 22 through 24. That was like continued restoration through the inside
Damaged glass panes in the lantern room decorative railings, etc. Rebuild massive boat house doors, which I would love to see
(42:59):
And then the last phase was 2020 for 2025 and was a lot of
Outfitting the inside with the 1950s memorabilia that we're gonna have an on-site gift shop a maritime museum
And then they would have full staffing and day tours and overnight bookings and all that
So it'll come back. Yeah, so much work. I hope so crazy
(43:20):
I this is a little silly to say if you've listened to a lot of our episodes
you know this or if you're in the Lighthouses, you know this but I
It's a huge effort within the entire community of lighthouse folks to connect with resources
Mainly funding. Yeah, I don't know their their business. Obviously. I don't know what's going on here
like how that funding situation is but I
(43:45):
Early on I discovered when we were getting into this a need
You know one of the many lighthouses that was asking for fundraising for a certain program
Yeah, and I made a donation. I just thought it was super cool. You know this and that and
I'm sure it did nothing. Like yeah, I I
(44:07):
This is easy for me to say it. It's always yeah
It's always easy to say this but like my what I can donate at this time is just not significant
But if we did have people being involved
It's like the conversation we had recently with Jeremy to extra month about how to get people younger folks like ourselves
into lighthouse culture
(44:28):
Vested how do we help out? How do we get tied in?
And obviously there's a lot of people doing a lot of work to do that. But right. Yeah, I'm sure there's people out there
They're looking to to donate to some cause. Yeah. So, do you know are we going to talk about is there an avenue?
Easily available to do it
Which I have in the show notes you can donate and also you can volunteer which they're not doing right now because
(44:54):
they're
Closed for like actual restoration. That's why I'm assuming that they're still in phase one
It's like they can't have anybody come in probably because they're working with like the lead paint and asbestos
Professionals and then volunteers in between probably right cool
Yeah
So nowadays it has a white flash every five seconds and you can also purchase a license for a
Lighthouse and you can also purchase a license plate
(45:17):
I think it's just in Michigan where it has the lighthouse on it and it goes towards like the funds the extra funds goes to
That's cool lighthouse preservation
Very cool. Their Facebook is a great way to keep up to date with everything to do with the lighthouse
They post I saw every couple of days. Maybe it's more than that sometimes but they they really keep up to date on what's going on
The lighthouse so that's also in our show notes. What is the group called that manages the lighthouse?
(45:42):
Shol light historical preservation society. Thank you. I
Know you said that no
White shul is also this is interesting a part of Glen Great Lakes evaporation network the same group that tracks data at
Standard Rock with the superior watershed project
So it's one of several lighthouses that collect environmental data out there make sense. Yeah unique point
(46:04):
Yeah, more point last year. They sent out four bottles with notes in them and free nights like certificates
Whoa, lighthouse into the lake from the lighthouse. They just threw them out
And they showed up on shore and people like picked them up and got free nights at the lighthouse
And you know what they sent that we don't bottles they sent about in coke boom. Boom. No way
(46:26):
No, boo. Yeah, that's a for those of you who don't know it's a rum that we we quite enjoy. It's very sweet
Very good. But yeah, it's got a nice flavor to it. It looks like a pirate bottle. It's got a cork top
Yes, it has like the skull not skull and crossbones but like the crossbones on it
Which is why I'm sure they selected them is because it was it's a really cool bottle. That's so funny
But uh, I just saw something about it. I was like, oh, that's neat
(46:49):
I wasn't gonna make a note about it and then I saw an article that had a picture of what the bottles looked like and I
Was like that's boo. There you go. Shout out to boom boo. And I think they may be doing it again this year as well
They did that last year and only one bottle never made it back to shore. It's still floating somewhere
Yeah, just out there stuck in the permafrost
Yeah, right
(47:10):
Yeah, that's the story of white shul light house
Awesome. Really cool lighthouse. Yeah, I love the stripey's we love red. Maybe they're using what is it called?
Teneemic. Teneemic. I would be surprised. Yeah, I don't I don't believe it's a cheap product. Yeah, right
Nothing but the best for our lighthouses. Yeah, if we can afford it if we can when we can afford it. Yeah
(47:37):
Very neat. Mm-hmm. Well, thank you very much. You're welcome. Thanks to all of our listeners for showing up
We keep going strong and we're excited that you're listening and thank you to all of our new listeners for popping in just giving us a shot
Appreciate you. Yeah, you can follow us on
YouTube and Instagram at the lighthouse lowdown
(48:01):
You can check out our website the lighthouse lowdown.com where you can listen to our episodes and also check out our YouTube videos
And you can also leave us a review if you enjoyed this episode, please do we love to see them
And we'll catch you next time. Oh
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