There has been a lighthouse on Presque Isle since 1873. Built five bricks thick, it is a little over 57 feet high and has an attached dwelling that provided a home to the keepers and their families until 1944.
Today, visitors to Presque Isle State Park can pay a few bucks to go inside the home and climb the stairs for a bird’s eye view of the island and Lake Erie.
We decided to give my knee a rest and just admired this beautiful lighthouse from the ground. We also each left behind a few bucks in the gift shop to benefit their operation.
While things function much differently today, this remains a functioning light to aid navigation. Learn more here!
Five bricks thick? Why? That’s a lot of bricks.
It does sound like a lot but it’s to give the lighthouse stability. Lake Erie lighthouses tend to have walls that are no less than five to ten inches thick because they are built to withstand severe weather and near violent conditions coming off the lake. Ice buildup, high wind, and waves are no joke up there.
Minnesota has some lighthouses along the North Shore. Don’t think any are used for navigation anymore. One is in a state park (Split Rock) but high above the water. I’ll have to look up their construction.
And there’s one on Minnesota Point long abandon and just a ruin now. Someday I should go back there and see how it was built.
Sounds like a plan!!
Very cool!
What a cute lighthouse. I couldn’t imagine what it must have been like to live in one.
Me neither. Although I sometimes wish to be snowed and iced into a place where I can just rest and read for a few months!