Michigan Technological University Digital Commons @ Michigan Tech Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open Reports 2011 Lighthouses as an overlapping boundary between maritime and terrestrial landscapes : how lighthouses served to connect the growing industries of the Keweenaw Peninsula with the world market Lisa M. Gillis Michigan Technological University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/etds Part of the Archaeological Anthropology Commons Copyright 2011 Lisa M. Gillis Recommended Citation Gillis, Lisa M., "Lighthouses as an overlapping boundary between maritime and terrestrial landscapes : how lighthouses served to connect the growing industries of the Keweenaw Peninsula with the world market", Master's Thesis, Michigan Technological University, 2011. https://doi.org/10.37099/mtu.dc.etds/295 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/etds Part of the Archaeological Anthropology Commons LIGHTHOUSES AS AN OVERLAPPING BOUNDARY BETWEEN MARITIME AND TERRESTRIAL LANDSCAPES: HOW LIGHTHOUSES SERVED TO CONNECT THE GROWING INDUSTRIES OF THE KEWEENAW PENINSULA WITH THE WORLD MARKET By Lisa M. Gillis A THESIS Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY MICHIGAN TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY 2011 © 2011 Lisa M. Gillis This thesis, “Lighthouses as an Overlapping Boundary between Maritime and Terrestrial Landscapes: How Lighthouses Served to Connect the Growing Industries of the Keweenaw Peninsula with the World Market,” is hereby approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE IN INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY. Department of Social Sciences Signatures: Thesis Advisor ________________________________________________ Dr. Sam Sweitz Committee Member ________________________________________________ Dr. Larry Lankton Committee Member ________________________________________________ Dr. Susan Martin Committee Member ________________________________________________ Erik Nordberg Department Chair ________________________________________________ Dr. Patrick Martin Date ________________________________________________ Table of Contents List of Figures ..........................................................................................................v List of Tables ........................................................................................................ vii Acknowledgements .............................................................................................. viii Abstract .................................................................................................................. ix Chapter I: Introduction ............................................................................................1 Literature Review .........................................................................................4 Research Objectives ...................................................................................15 Chapter II: Background.........................................................................................17 The Early History of Lighthouses ..............................................................18 Lighthouse Board .......................................................................................18 Lighthouse Construction Practices ............................................................19 Lighthouse Contracts and Blueprints ........................................................21 Training for American Engineers ..............................................................28 American Construction Materials..............................................................29 Illumination Devices ..................................................................................34 The Industrial History of the Keweenaw ...................................................36 Piloting between the Lighthouses ..............................................................43 Case Study: Copper Harbor Lighthouse...................................................44 Case Study: Manitou Island Lighthouse ...................................................49 Case Study: Eagle Harbor Lighthouse .....................................................53 iii Case Study: Ontonagon Lighthouse..........................................................59 Case Study: Portage Lower Entry (Jacobsville) Lighthouse ....................64 Case Study: Eagle River Lighthouse.........................................................67 Chapter III: Results and Discussion ......................................................................71 Results ........................................................................................................71 Discussion ..................................................................................................86 Chapter IV: Suggestions for Further Work and Concluding Remarks .................92 Suggestions for Further Work ....................................................................92 Concluding Remarks ..................................................................................94 Literature Cited ......................................................................................................97 Appendix A: Contracts .......................................................................................102 Appendix B: Blank Photo and Survey Sheets .....................................................120 Appendix C: Historic Register Nomination Forms ............................................122 iv List of Figures Figure I.1: Map of the upper part of Michigan .......................................................2 Figure I.2: Map of the Keweenaw Peninsula ..........................................................4 Figure I.3: Photograph of a contract photocopy page received from D.C ............13 Figure I.4: Blueprint image from D.C ..................................................................14 Figure II.1: Blueprint plan drawing for the initial Manitou Island Lighthouse structure...................................................................................23 Figure II.2: Blueprint plan drawing for the initial Eagle Harbor Lighthouse structure...................................................................................24 Figure II.3: Blueprint plan drawing for the initial Lower Portage Entry Lighthouse structure...................................................................................25 Figure II.4: Blueprint plan of the Lower Portage Entry Lighthouse door ............26 Figure II.5: Photograph of the third order Fresnel lens on display at the Eagle Harbor Lighthouse museum .......................................................................35 Figure II.6: Photograph of the 1849 Keeper’s Dwelling ......................................47 Figure II.7: Picture of the second Copper Harbor lighthouse structure ................48 Figure II.8: Photograph of the second Manitou Island lighthouse structure .........52 Figure II.9: Advertisement for the selling of the Manitou Island lighthouse .......53 Figure II.10: Photograph of the bay at Eagle Harbor ............................................54 Figure II.11: Representation of the first Eagle Harbor lighthouse structure .........56 Figure II.12: Photograph of the second Eagle Harbor lighthouse structure .........57 Figure II.13: Photograph of the second Ontonagon lighthouse structure .............62 Figure II.14: Picture of second Jacobsville lighthouse structure ..........................66 Figure II.15: Photograph of the second Eagle River lighthouse structure ............68 v Figure II.16: Photograph of 1998 advertisement for the selling of the second Eagle River Lighthouse structure...............................................................69 Figure III.1: Graph of years of lighthouse use ......................................................73 Figure III.2: Photograph of the current Copper Harbor lighthouse structure with the steel tower out front .....................................................................77 Figure III.3: Photograph of the current Manitou Island Lighthouse structure ......79 Figure III.4: Photograph of the current Eagle Harbor lighthouse structure ..........80 Figure III.5: Photograph of the wall thickness caused by poured concrete between two layers of brick .......................................................................81 Figure III.6: Photograph of the current Ontonagon lighthouse structure ..............82 Figure III.7: Photograph of the current Portage Lower Entry Lighthouse ...........83 Figure III.8: Photograph of the stamped “Detroit Locomotive Works” on the tower................................................................................................84 vi List of Tables Table III.1: Chronology of lighthouse construction and use ................................72 Table III.2: Table summary of case study information .........................................76 vii Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge the contributions of the Keweenaw County Historical Society, the Ontonagon County Historical Society (in particular president Bruce Johanson), the Houghton County Historical Society, the Sandusky County Historical Society, the Great Lakes Historical Society, and the Keweenaw Land Trust (in particular Joe Kaplan and Christine Williams). I would like to thank Dr. Susan Martin, Dr. Larry Lankton,