We drove to Port Clinton, OH on 07/20/2011 and stayed at the Erie Islands Resort. On 07/24/2011 we traveled to Fremont, OH to visit the site of Fort Stephenson. We also visited the Port Clinton Lighthouse, Marblehead Lighthouse, 1822 Lighthouse Keepers House, and 1812 War First Battle Site all near Port Clinton. The war began because Britain interfered with American trade and shipping on the high seas, and because the U.S. also blamed Britain for inciting and supporting hostile Indians on the frontier. At that time Ohio was part of the frontier. Before the battle, Britain held the Detroit and Lake Erie region. Because the British attack on Fort Stephenson failed, the British were turned back. They were then defeated in the Battle of Lake Erie and later battles. The battle of Fort Stephenson was the last western battle fought in U.S. territory. Major Croghan, the commander of Fort Stephenson, was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel after his victory over the British forces. The picture is of the Soldiers’ Monument at Fort Stephenson.
The picture is of Abigail on Old Betsy, the original Cannon.
Despite early doubts about the necessity of a lighthouse at Port Clinton, the area has been home to three diverse structures, which have served to mark the entrance to the Portage River from Lake Erie. The surviving structures that have been part of Port Clinton’s lighthouse history are now treasured landmarks for Port Clintonites. In October of 1832, the government purchased acreage on the east side of the mouth of the Portage River for lighthouse purposes. Two months later, the respected contractor, Levi Johnson of Cleveland, was commissioned to build a lighthouse on the property. In this first incarnation, the Port Clinton Lighthouse was a round, pyramidal tower, constructed of split-stone. The lighthouse stood forty feet tall and used an array of eight lamps backed by reflectors to project a beam ten miles into the lake. Johnson was also responsible for the single-story keepers residence, also built of split-stone, that was erected near the tower. The Portage River ran within 100 feet of the lighthouse buildings before emptying into the lake at present-day Fulton Street. The government sold the lighthouse lot and keeper’s dwelling to a physician by the name of H. J. Pool in 1927, who used the dwelling as a nurse’s home. The property was later sold to Doris Dubbart in 1945. Presently, the 1901 dwelling is home to a restaurant known as The Garden at the Lighthouse. The restaurant’s décor emphasizes the rich local history of Port Clinton, with walls adorned with framed historic documents and artifacts. In the 1960s, the wooden Port Clinton lighthouse was removed from the breakwater and relocated to a marina on the Portage River. Now in its third incarnation, the Port Clinton Lighthouse consists of a pair of flashing red and green entrance lights. The picture is of the Port Clinton Lighthouse.
Marblehead Lighthouse is the oldest, continuously operational lighthouse on the Great Lakes. It has been featured on a U.S. postage stamp, has appeared on the license plates of Ohio’s drivers, and has been added to the Ohio State Parks system. Found on the northernmost tip of the Marblehead Peninsula, this popular lighthouse’s history began in 1819 when the fifteenth U.S. Congress decided that the area was too dangerous to be navigated without some sort of beacon. The sum of $5,000 was allocated for the construction of a light tower at the entrance to Sandusky Bay at Bay Point, Ohio, hoping that the lighthouse would help vessels travel safely through Lake Erie’s nor’easters and the clusters of small islands on the southernmost coast of the lake. William Kelly and a crew of two men began construction of the conical tower in 1821. Choosing an outcropping of limestone on the northern tip of the peninsula for their building site, they completed the project in eleven weeks. By November, the rocky shoreline was home to a fifty-foot tower with a spiraling staircase leading to the top. The base measured twenty-five feet in diameter with walls five feet thick; the top tapered to twelve feet in diameter with walls two feet thick. The walls were constructed of limestone, quarried nearby on the peninsula. (Limestone from the same area would later be used to build the Empire State Building in New York City.) The lighthouse cost $7,232 to build and was the only navigational aid in the Sandusky Bay region for many years; in fact, the tower was called the “Sandusky Bay Light” until 1870. Its first beacon consisted of thirteen small whale oil lamps with round wicks and a set of sixteen-inch-diameter reflectors. The picture is of the Marblehead Lighthouse.
Built in 1822 this native limestone structure was the home of Benjah Wolcott and his second wife, Rachel Miller Wolcott. Benjah Wolcott was the first keeper of the Marblehead Lighthouse, (Originally called the Sandusky Bay Light). Benjah maintained the lighthouse from 1822 until his death ten years later. After Benjah’s passing the U.S. Government appointed Rachel as the Keeper, making her the first female lighthouse keeper on the Great Lakes. The building is the oldest known residence still standing in Ottawa County and is a fine example of a “hall and parlor house”. The picture is of the 1822 Lighthouse Keeper House.
The first battle of 1812 on Ohio soil was fought here when about 60 exhausted citizen soldiers were ambushed by about 130 Indians on September 29. Twenty men held the Indians at bay in a cabin while the main body escaped by boat to Cedar Point. Two days later the defenders were rescued. Forty Indians including several chiefs and 8 Americans were killed in the skirmish. Neither victory nor a defeat for either side. The picture is of the battle site.
