William and Caroline left their positions in 1872. These wages would remain the same for all keepers and their assistants for the next 30 years. William was paid $600/year for his work Caroline received $400. His wife Caroline was the assistant keeper. William Jackson became the first keeper on Cana Island in November 3, 1869. Starting in 1883, William and his wife Julie raised seven sons while working and living for 35 years on the bluff. William Duclon, a Civil War Vet, served as Eagle Bluff’s second – and longest – keeper. Keeper Henry Stanley lit the tower’s original third-and-one-half order Fresnel lens on October 5th. An unusual architectural feature of this lighthouse was the diagonally built tower jutting into the northwest corner of the house. The cream-colored Milwaukee brick, ‘Norman Gothic’ building on the 40-foot high bluff cost $12,000 to build. The federal government built Eagle Bluff Lighthouse to safely guide ships through Green Bay’s narrow Strawberry Channel in 1868. Day in, day out, this was the routine until the Rock Island light was automated in 1946. the rest of the day was to be spent working the grounds, cleaning and painting the lighthouse and maintaining outbuildings. Each morning, keepers were required to clean and polish the lens and refuel the lamp before 10 a.m. Lighthouse Board was established the same year Corbin left the rock – and with it came a strict rulebook for lighthouse operation. In addition to a yearly salary, keepers received free housing, yearly supplies of staples such as sugar and flour and a pension once they retired. The position was choice and veterans of the War of 1812 and the Civil War were given priority consideration. Lighthouse keepers were appointed by order of the President of the United States. Sawyer were all keepers or assistant keepers of the light at Pottawatomie over the years – and they were all Civil War veterans. William Betts, Abraham Capers, James Fuller, Abraham Grover and Frank O. The original lighthouse was poorly built and the weathered structure was torn down and replaced just six years after Corbin left his position. A bachelor, Corbin stayed at the isolated post guiding ships through stormy waters for 15 years. Corbin – a veteran of the War of 1812 – became the first keeper in 1837. The lighthouse was named after the Native Americans living in the area it means ‘keepers of the fire.’ĭavid E. Pottawatomie Lighthouse was built high on the dolomite bluffs above Lake Michigan on Rock Island. Severe weather, jagged shorelines and increasing shipping traffic led to the construction of Door’s first lighthouse in 1836. Dotting these shores with life-saving lighthouses to guide shipping vessels in the late 1800s and early 1900s was essential. So treacherous were the waters where Green Bay meets the open body of Lake Michigan, that it was given the name ‘Porte des Morts’ or ‘Death’s Door.’ The peninsula that would eventually become Door County has 300 miles (483 km) of shoreline. The rolling, tree-covered spit of land sticks out like a thumb into the treacherous waters of the Great Lake.
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