Episode 82 - Whitefish Point Lighthouse

WEBVTT

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We're rolling. Oh my gosh. Hi everybody. I'm

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Emily. And I'm Vince. And this is The Lighthouse

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Lowdown. Oh. Vince just went crazy. I've never

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seen you dance with such gusto. I just pretended

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it was a drum solo. Oh. I also had to try not

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to hit things as I was doing that. Well, you

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were pretty open over here. We're in the studio

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number five? Number six? Probably five. Maybe

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four. Studio South. South KC. Yeah, not even.

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So what episode are we on? We're on 82. 82, welcome

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to the show. Thank you for asking. And Vince

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was going to be doing our history buoy today,

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but I powered through and managed to create one.

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And I also have one. I would like some credit

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for that. Credit is given. Yeah. Congratulations.

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Thanks. So I'm going to go into our history,

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Bowie. It does come up during the episode, and

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that's how I came up with an incredible idea,

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which was to cover the U .S. Lifesaving Service

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Stations. Cool, yeah. So you talked about them,

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the Lifesaving Service, before, right? Or maybe

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you briefly covered it in an episode. Recently

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we talked about the Lyle Gun and the Lifesaving

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Station using that. Before that, I thought you

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covered... I covered what is the USLHS, which

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has many answers, actually. Yeah, maybe you covered

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part of the life -saving service in there. USLHE,

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all that. USLSS. So I'm covering that today.

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Thank you. Slightly too long. I need my headset

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to turn down a little. Can you do that, please?

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Sure can. What number? I think it's one. How's

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that? Much better. Blasting out my eardrums.

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Sorry. It's okay. Anyway. History boot. History

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boot. I'm in charge of this today. I did a little

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cover like you do. I like this. Thank you. Nice

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images. I didn't spell check, but everything

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seems to be in order, so that's good. Yeah, the

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images below. that I pulled up are going to be

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what I cover in this episode and in this history

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buoy. Cool. Yeah, I can't wait. Yeah, they have

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a couple different types of service stations,

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so I'm going to cover all of those. The most

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well -known one are the life -saving stations.

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So I'll pull a picture of an example of that.

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Carly and I went to this one near Rehoboth Beach.

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Called the Indian River Lifesaving Station. Okay,

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okay. What were you going to say? Indian River

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Lifesaving Station. Yeah, last episode I said

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Indian Point, but it's Indian River. But that

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was wrong. Yeah, it was so wrong. And you know

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what else? When I went there to get a stamp in

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my passport, they gave me a general stamp and

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not a location -specific stamp, so it doesn't

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even count. Do they have a location -specific

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stamp? Yeah, so that you can get credit for it

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in the passport. Damn. But they gave me a general

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USLSS. Yeah, if anyone doesn't know, there's

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a USLHS passport system where you can take the

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small booklet, looks like a passport, and get

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stamps that prove you were here and there at

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lighthouses. And then you can eventually turn

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in those stamps for patches that you can collect.

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pretty sweet I'm not even remotely close to my

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first patch we're pretty good at it one of these

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days I'll catch up and the best part is that

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most places you can get if you prove that you

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were there with a photo then you can get a um

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you can get one of the stamps by mail so it's

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not not it's not a lost cause it's just that

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I have to do a little extra work in order to

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make it happen so anyway That's the example I

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pulled up. It's yellow and red. It's a pretty

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one. Yeah, it's well taken care of, which is

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important. Basically, the difference between

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all these is we've covered it in the past, so

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I don't go into detail about what is the life

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-saving station, what do they have, blah, blah.

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It's just the difference between the types. Okay.

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So this one had a full crew and a keeper, and

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these were mostly along the Atlantic coastline

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with some... just like a couple on the Great

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Lakes Gulf and Pacific coast. So mostly the Atlantic

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coast had life -saving stations. The station

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would have a ground floor, like mess room, like

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mess hall, but like smaller kitchen and a boathouse.

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And then the upstairs would be dorms. And then

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on the top, they'd have like a cupola and a watch

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room, some with remote lookouts. So they would

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have to leave. Most places had them built into

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the station building. It's nice. Most notably,

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the stations were on really remote areas of the

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beach. And you've talked about this too. Because

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of this, the boat had to be launched over sand

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and into the surf. And I remember last time you

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had a picture of horses like towing the boat

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over sand. So I included a picture of the path

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at Indian River that they had to take down to

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the water's edge. So it's all sand. Not easy

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to get across. So that was most of them were

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these really remote areas. There's a lot of sand,

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hard work to get such a heavy boat out there.

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Yeah. And push it out onto the water. And then

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you start the rescue. Yeah. It's like gently

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sloping. You know how complicated it would be

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to get a boat? It's not like you can just get

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to the water's edge and be like, all right, we'll

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just float it out. It's like there's waves and

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yeah. Yeah. It's almost always bad news. It's

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crazy. So the next category is lifeboat station,

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which is what we encounter in our episode today.

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I don't use pictures in the example so that I

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can save it for later. So I have an example from

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a different station, different lifeboat station.

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Lifeboat station. But yeah, I kept seeing lifeboat

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and I was like, is it the same thing as a life

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-saving station? It sounds exactly the same.

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And it's basically, there's very few differences.

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It still has a full crew and a keeper. And the

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building is basically the same as the life -saving

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station. The lifeboat stations were always at

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or near port cities that had like deep water

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or piers. And so the boats would launch from

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a railway ramp into that water instead of it

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being over sand and stuff. And these are always

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along Great Lakes and Pacific Coast. So the Atlantic

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Coast didn't have really any lifeboat station.

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Those were all lifesaving. And these are like

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Great Lakes specific. So the difference is that

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there's no beach. Yeah, like very little sand.

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And it always had a ramp. And I have a picture

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here of what that looked like. So very easy entry

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into water from the lifeboat stations. That's

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cool. And the last one is houses of refuge, which

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I'm pretty sure we've mentioned these a couple

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times. And these are very different because they

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only had them on the east coast of Florida. So

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like very specific. I pulled up a picture of

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an old one. This was Orange Grove, Delray Beach.

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And the reason for that is the water there never

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got so cold that you would be worried about shipwreck

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survivors dying because of how cold the water

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is. And that's pretty much a concern everywhere

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else you go is that water can get cold enough

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that you'd be concerned about people drowning

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because of the cold. But on the east coast of

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Florida, they don't really have to worry about

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that. And because the beaches are so sloping,

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the shipwrecks are probably from grounding and

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then people can make it pretty easy to shore

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as opposed to like the other locations where

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it's choppy, it's deep, like it could be from

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rocks or a reef or whatever. These are pretty

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much, you don't have to worry about collecting

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people from shipwrecks. They can just kind of

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swim up. Broken up in the open water. Yeah, so

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the point of houses of refuge were to give like

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a place to sleep, some food, and then directions

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to the nearest settlement. So that's what that

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is. Didn't we learn about these? Who are we talking

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to? I think it was Ralph. Yeah. Krugler? Yeah.

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So tell me what happened. There's life -saving

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stations, which have horses. Yeah, which you're

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having to bring the boat over a lot of sand.

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And Atlantic Coast Focus. Lifeboat Stations.

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Great Lakes Focus. Ramps. And Houses of Refuge.

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Florida. Specifically. Yeah. I thought there

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was a fourth. No. Okay, that's why you caught

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me off guard. I was waiting for number four.

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Oh. I thought you showed four pictures. Yeah,

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well that one shows up later. One of the photos

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is later. To remain anonymous at this time. Cool.

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It's up here. Well, very nice. I like that. Yeah,

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we'll be talking about that other photo later.

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And so on to the lighthouse we're talking about

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today. This is a listener lighthouse. So thank

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you, Haley, for sending this one in. We're going

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to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. And around

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here, whitefish is a very popular food item.

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Whitefish. Huh. And the most productive whitefish

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fishing is at the aptly named Whitefish Bay at

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Whitefish Point. And so, as you can guess, that's

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the lighthouse we're talking about today. It's

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not in Whitefish, Montana, otherwise. Oh, is

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that a thing? Oh, yeah. Very nice area. Landlocked

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Montana, right? Whitefish. There's a big lake

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there. Oh, very cool. Oh, I guess whitefish would

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be a freshwater fish. It must be. Because the

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Great Lakes are freshwater. Flathead Lake is

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what's up there, I'm pretty sure. Flathead. Sorry.

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Mystical. So we are here at Whitefish Point Lighthouse.

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Yeah, so I pulled up a map picture. You can see

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in reference to Mackinac City and Old Mackinac

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Point Lighthouse, which we've covered in the

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past. So there's a little pin on there for that.

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So just in reference, the gray line that cuts

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through the top corner of the photo is the line

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of Michigan. It's like the upper part. Very close

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to the property line of Michigan. And then Lake

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Superior. Interesting. In 1846, the idea of a

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lighthouse on this point was brought forward

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because this area marks the eastern end of 80

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miles known as the Lake Superior's Shipwreck

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Coast. So it's a pretty dangerous area. Lots

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of traffic, lots of fishing, and so we needed

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a... Lighthouse to mark the end of it. Of the

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550 known shipwrecks that are laying on the bottom

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of Lake Superior, 200 of them are in the vicinity

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of Whitefish Point. Really? Almost half of the

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Lake Superior shipwrecks are around in this area.

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That's so crazy. Isn't that wild? I saw a video

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last week. There was not a lot of content, but

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the guy was saying, people always say... The

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Great Lakes, Lake Superior, is like the ocean

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when they see it. Yeah. And then he showed, he

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was on the beach, I don't know where, but he's

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like, yep. Yep. Looks like the ocean. Like, you

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take a glance and it's like, eh, it's kind of

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rough out there. Yeah. I don't really see the

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other side. Really no differences when you're

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on the shore or even in the water. So, yeah.

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Giant. Is Lake Superior the biggest one? I think

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so. Okay. Nice. I don't think it's the deepest,

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though. Yeah, I've heard that the deepest and

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largest are different. Yeah. Like the volume

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of water is bigger in a different lake. I'm totally

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guessing. Oh, yeah. No, I have no... Do not learn

00:12:06.090 --> 00:12:09.450
from this message. Yeah, this specifically. The

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rest of the podcast you can learn from. Okay,

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sorry. I got off track. Drifted out to sea. Congress

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put aside $5 ,000. for this new lighthouse a

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year after they asked for it. How quick. I know.

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Wow. Along with setting aside over 110 acres

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for the light station. So I'm like, that's pretty

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significant. 110 acres is a lot. Nice little

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chunk. Yeah. Chunker. Nice little chunk. Construction

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started in 1848. So that's promptly after setting

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aside money and was completed within just a couple

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of months. So this may go down in history as

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one of the fastest lighthouse process of all

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time. Why do you think that is? Is it because

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it's almost not in America? I feel like it's

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because, one, it's really important, blah, blah,

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blah. They always are. But also, it was early

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in the game, and so maybe it was easier for them

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to be like, if someone brought up the idea for

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a lighthouse somewhere, it was important enough.

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Less red tape. Yeah, less paperwork and everything

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to just make it happen. Nice. Construction also

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was probably less. aggressively regulated in

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18 yeah what is osha yeah 1849 i guess 1848 so

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yeah i was completed 1848 it was a 42 foot tall

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tapered stone tower of which i have no photos

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of i'm like a shame that's interesting 13 lamps

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produced a solid white light and they had a four

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room story and a half stone dwelling which was

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also constructed for the keepers at the same

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time And I do have a photo of that for some reason.

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Yeah, what the heck? Just to, yeah. Whoever took

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a picture of a keeper's dwelling or like a storehouse

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and not the lighthouse. Well, I'm saying at this,

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like by the time the lighthouse tower was gonzo.

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Some story. I think they didn't really, they

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weren't taking pictures yet. So this is for Zillow.

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You think the posting was like. It was for Zillow.

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For Zillow. Oh. You were so excited. What's for

00:14:23.330 --> 00:14:28.269
Zillow? What's for Zillow? Is it a style of architecture?

00:14:28.409 --> 00:14:33.669
No. Sorry, I misheard. Your joke, it is funny.

00:14:33.970 --> 00:14:39.950
Yeah, thank you. Wait, let me get a sip. Thank

00:14:39.950 --> 00:14:43.690
you for narrating the second slurp. You're welcome.

00:14:45.610 --> 00:14:47.769
So they did this really fast construction, right?

00:14:48.009 --> 00:14:52.509
They went over budget by $3 ,300, which is almost

00:14:52.509 --> 00:14:54.669
twice the allotted budget. Back then, that's

00:14:54.669 --> 00:14:57.629
a lot of budget. Yeah, that's a lot. And that

00:14:57.629 --> 00:15:00.169
amount was awarded back to the construction company

00:15:00.169 --> 00:15:03.429
a year later by Congress. So the company spent

00:15:03.429 --> 00:15:05.549
its own money finishing the lighthouse, and then

00:15:05.549 --> 00:15:07.210
Congress paid them back. I'm like, that's a lot

00:15:07.210 --> 00:15:08.649
of trust. Because I'd be like, I'm not going

00:15:08.649 --> 00:15:11.110
anywhere until you give me more money. And that's

00:15:11.110 --> 00:15:13.850
how it works today, right? Yeah, the term is

00:15:13.850 --> 00:15:19.330
retainage. If you're hiring, like, you know,

00:15:19.330 --> 00:15:22.330
I'm the general contractor and the mechanical

00:15:22.330 --> 00:15:24.769
contractor is doing the duct and all the piping

00:15:24.769 --> 00:15:28.690
and stuff. I won't pay them the last 10 or 20

00:15:28.690 --> 00:15:31.690
% of the total contract value until all the work

00:15:31.690 --> 00:15:33.929
is done. And I've walked through and I've confirmed

00:15:33.929 --> 00:15:37.210
the work is done. Then, bloop, you know, send

00:15:37.210 --> 00:15:40.450
the Venmo, 20%. But that's a big chunk of money.

00:15:40.610 --> 00:15:43.690
That's a big piece of contract. So in this case.

00:15:44.090 --> 00:15:46.629
The contractor at their own risk completed the

00:15:46.629 --> 00:15:48.690
work. Yeah. And then the government paid them

00:15:48.690 --> 00:15:51.730
back. Yeah. Which again. All very unlikely. I

00:15:51.730 --> 00:15:54.590
don't think that would happen today. Yeah. I

00:15:54.590 --> 00:15:56.350
agree. Because, because what leverage do you

00:15:56.350 --> 00:15:58.529
have? You're just. Yeah. Lighthouse is already

00:15:58.529 --> 00:16:00.090
there. They're like, oh, well, we didn't promise

00:16:00.090 --> 00:16:01.710
that we'd pay you back. I don't recall that.

00:16:01.730 --> 00:16:03.730
Maybe it was in the contract or something. Like

00:16:03.730 --> 00:16:06.850
if you have to go over, make it happen. But.

00:16:07.309 --> 00:16:10.840
Yeah. Crazy. I don't know. Yeah. It's just. So

00:16:10.840 --> 00:16:12.720
Whitefish Point, I don't know what it's like

00:16:12.720 --> 00:16:15.460
today, but at the time when they built the lighthouse,

00:16:15.600 --> 00:16:19.580
it was really isolated. And the first eight keepers

00:16:19.580 --> 00:16:24.159
all resigned at this lighthouse. Which is funny

00:16:24.159 --> 00:16:26.000
because we've talked about a lot of isolated

00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:29.259
lighthouses, and that didn't happen at any of

00:16:29.259 --> 00:16:31.919
those other ones. So there must have been something

00:16:31.919 --> 00:16:35.940
extra. Yeah, sometimes there's something that's

00:16:35.940 --> 00:16:40.139
not mentioned. You know, isolated. and cold isolated

00:16:40.139 --> 00:16:44.379
and obviously lonely or yeah food was terrible

00:16:44.379 --> 00:16:46.840
because you couldn't get to the supply i don't

00:16:46.840 --> 00:16:49.559
know and a lot of stone buildings were leaky

00:16:49.559 --> 00:16:53.600
and drafty and that's and they suck up all the

00:16:53.600 --> 00:16:59.000
heat yeah so suck up all the heat i don't know

00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:01.799
what that means well like the the there's no

00:17:01.799 --> 00:17:04.799
insulating value to stone so if you sit down

00:17:04.799 --> 00:17:08.329
on a concrete floor it's cold Oh, yeah. It's

00:17:08.329 --> 00:17:10.410
the same. Now, imagine the house is all stone.

00:17:10.750 --> 00:17:12.609
Oh, you're just saying that any available heat,

00:17:12.710 --> 00:17:14.710
it would have kind of. Even if you have a stove

00:17:14.710 --> 00:17:18.529
or a fireplace. Oh, yeah. That's why people like

00:17:18.529 --> 00:17:21.490
wood. That's one of the reasons people like wood.

00:17:21.710 --> 00:17:25.349
Not warm sucking? Yeah, slightly not warm sucking.

00:17:26.329 --> 00:17:36.549
Thank you. Well, good. Snatched my coffee. For

00:17:36.549 --> 00:17:39.250
anyone interested, Vince and I are drinking the

00:17:39.250 --> 00:17:42.930
new Chips Ahoy and Nutter Butter coffees from

00:17:42.930 --> 00:17:45.170
Scooters. We are not sponsored, but we could

00:17:45.170 --> 00:17:48.250
be. We go there a lot. Well, now it's not on

00:17:48.250 --> 00:17:53.109
my route home or to work, which actually has

00:17:53.109 --> 00:17:54.750
been pretty devastating. We get a lot of different

00:17:54.750 --> 00:17:58.069
coffee. I went to the roastery yesterday, Kansas

00:17:58.069 --> 00:18:01.349
City Institution, and I had a fantastic turtle

00:18:01.349 --> 00:18:03.549
latte. What are you talking about? Where were

00:18:03.549 --> 00:18:08.690
you going? Dinner and a movie with a buddy. Oh,

00:18:08.690 --> 00:18:11.609
yeah, that's right. On your date. I was editing

00:18:11.609 --> 00:18:16.450
photos from my trip to Sweden. And I saw on our

00:18:16.450 --> 00:18:20.190
last video that we posted on YouTube, which was

00:18:20.190 --> 00:18:24.049
Fjellbecka and the archipelago in Sweden. Someone

00:18:24.049 --> 00:18:27.250
commented that they are half Swedish. They enjoyed

00:18:27.250 --> 00:18:29.009
listening and they learned a lot from our podcast.

00:18:29.230 --> 00:18:31.670
That's so cute. They liked the photos, they said.

00:18:31.789 --> 00:18:35.859
I didn't get a message. Of that. Thank you to

00:18:35.859 --> 00:18:38.059
that individual. That's nice. You're also half

00:18:38.059 --> 00:18:43.400
Swedish. True. Well, by heritage, yes. Yeah.

00:18:44.019 --> 00:18:49.440
Yeah. What would make you half Swedish? Well,

00:18:49.500 --> 00:18:53.079
like my direct family is not from Sweden. Oh,

00:18:53.079 --> 00:18:54.660
you're saying like - It's three generations now.

00:18:54.660 --> 00:18:56.259
Yeah, generationally, yeah, you're half Swedish.

00:18:56.259 --> 00:18:58.740
But by blood, yes, I am half Swedish. Okay. That's

00:18:58.740 --> 00:19:01.279
why I'm so handsome, tall, and blonde. Wow. And

00:19:01.279 --> 00:19:06.930
humble. Especially. Okay, can I continue? Yeah,

00:19:06.930 --> 00:19:12.130
yeah, sidetrack. Okay, wow. 1857, a fourth order

00:19:12.130 --> 00:19:14.650
Fresnel lens was added, but two years later,

00:19:14.670 --> 00:19:16.289
a new lighthouse was requested by the lighthouse

00:19:16.289 --> 00:19:19.910
board. I have no information about why. I mean,

00:19:19.930 --> 00:19:21.970
it was stone, so maybe it was just leaky. And

00:19:21.970 --> 00:19:26.089
also, I have no idea what happened to that first

00:19:26.089 --> 00:19:27.710
lighthouse. I don't know if they demoed it and

00:19:27.710 --> 00:19:29.589
then built the new lighthouse in the exact same

00:19:29.589 --> 00:19:32.549
spot or... If they built it nearby, what I do

00:19:32.549 --> 00:19:34.509
know is the stone dwelling survived and stayed

00:19:34.509 --> 00:19:38.410
for a while. But I just don't know about the

00:19:38.410 --> 00:19:40.930
tower. I don't think that they were there at

00:19:40.930 --> 00:19:44.450
the same time. But I guess I have no way of proving

00:19:44.450 --> 00:19:47.849
that. Did you hear, did you read if the original

00:19:47.849 --> 00:19:51.710
tower was integral to this house? This dwelling?

00:19:51.890 --> 00:19:54.589
Are you asking because of the big, what may have

00:19:54.589 --> 00:19:59.200
been a hole in the side of the house? Yeah. I

00:19:59.200 --> 00:20:01.259
have no clue. I have no pictures, no descriptions,

00:20:01.440 --> 00:20:07.819
no nothing. Okay. On almost the edge of Canada?

00:20:08.599 --> 00:20:13.000
Yeah. I want to say probably integral or like

00:20:13.000 --> 00:20:15.660
connected by a walkway. Because it's cold. Because

00:20:15.660 --> 00:20:19.480
it's so cold and icy that likely they would give

00:20:19.480 --> 00:20:22.400
them some kind of chance. But then how expensive,

00:20:22.619 --> 00:20:26.880
I don't know, did Demo just... Just the lighthouse?

00:20:26.980 --> 00:20:30.859
Just the tower and then keep the house. Couldn't

00:20:30.859 --> 00:20:32.900
have been that good. It's not like it was good.

00:20:33.160 --> 00:20:36.420
I don't know. I don't know. So they built the

00:20:36.420 --> 00:20:40.400
second tower. 1857 was the Fresnel Lens. And

00:20:40.400 --> 00:20:44.779
then 1861 they finished building the new tower,

00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:49.640
which was a 78 -foot -tall iron pile brown skeleton

00:20:49.640 --> 00:20:52.079
tower. The same year that President Lincoln took

00:20:52.079 --> 00:20:53.980
office. So that's just a little reference there

00:20:53.980 --> 00:20:55.890
for timing. Hey, honest Abe. I was just thinking

00:20:55.890 --> 00:20:58.430
the other day about how you used to say, like,

00:20:58.490 --> 00:21:00.609
in this year, these things also happened. And

00:21:00.609 --> 00:21:02.630
it helped put things in a reference because I

00:21:02.630 --> 00:21:05.269
was just talking about how we've kind of lost,

00:21:05.430 --> 00:21:07.829
like, oh, that's not that old. Right. Because

00:21:07.829 --> 00:21:10.289
of lighthouse history that things aren't really

00:21:10.289 --> 00:21:12.190
in reference anymore. American history and lighthouse

00:21:12.190 --> 00:21:15.029
history. So that was when he took office. 1861.

00:21:16.069 --> 00:21:18.829
Yeah. Cool. Lincoln's the shit. He is. He had

00:21:18.829 --> 00:21:24.779
long legs. What? Or he has a long torso. Tall

00:21:24.779 --> 00:21:33.839
hat. He was tall. This is the weirdest collection

00:21:33.839 --> 00:21:38.519
of short sentences ever. Tall hat. He was tall.

00:21:41.359 --> 00:21:47.140
Somehow related. Okay. So this tower. Oh, something

00:21:47.140 --> 00:21:48.740
very interesting, and I do have a picture of

00:21:48.740 --> 00:21:51.079
this. This tower that they built had a covered

00:21:51.079 --> 00:21:53.740
walkway from the second level of the dwelling

00:21:53.740 --> 00:21:58.180
to the middle part of the central shaft of the

00:21:58.180 --> 00:22:00.700
lighthouse. So instead of building a walkway

00:22:00.700 --> 00:22:03.960
from the first floor to the shaft of the lighthouse,

00:22:04.140 --> 00:22:06.319
they built it from the second floor to the shaft

00:22:06.319 --> 00:22:09.380
of the lighthouse. Seems unnecessarily expensive.

00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:12.599
Because the central shaft did not continue all

00:22:12.599 --> 00:22:15.799
the way to the ground. And the why of that...

00:22:16.079 --> 00:22:20.259
Is unknown to me specifically. I don't know.

00:22:20.880 --> 00:22:23.500
But it's pretty cool. I've never once seen that

00:22:23.500 --> 00:22:26.200
before. And also the lighthouse is a lot taller

00:22:26.200 --> 00:22:29.660
and we haven't seen a skeletal tower that's so

00:22:29.660 --> 00:22:34.180
wide at the bottom. Yeah. So you said iron pile.

00:22:34.380 --> 00:22:38.160
Iron pile, yeah. So the piles are like columns

00:22:38.160 --> 00:22:41.359
that are driven or buried into the ground for

00:22:41.359 --> 00:22:45.230
foundation. to get through the sand down to something

00:22:45.230 --> 00:22:51.910
more solid. And then there's a platform on the,

00:22:51.990 --> 00:22:55.589
we call it level two. It's a little stilt action.

00:22:55.789 --> 00:22:57.369
Yeah, it's really interesting. I don't think

00:22:57.369 --> 00:22:58.730
I've ever seen a tower like that. Because that's

00:22:58.730 --> 00:23:03.109
like 10 to 15 feet before the central shaft of

00:23:03.109 --> 00:23:05.210
the lighthouse starts. So pretty interesting.

00:23:05.450 --> 00:23:07.349
I was going to say maybe they did like, you know,

00:23:07.349 --> 00:23:09.269
the clockwork, maybe the weight dropped down

00:23:09.269 --> 00:23:12.559
below the lighthouse. No, they didn't have rotating.

00:23:12.640 --> 00:23:14.559
Yeah, they didn't have rotating. Oh, really?

00:23:14.740 --> 00:23:18.700
All fixed? At the beginning. Call me Sally. I

00:23:18.700 --> 00:23:22.519
have no idea. Oh, something else that's interesting

00:23:22.519 --> 00:23:25.019
is the watch room and the lantern room were,

00:23:25.140 --> 00:23:31.480
how do you pronounce this? Decagonal. Decagonal.

00:23:31.859 --> 00:23:36.920
Ten sides? Oh, is that deca? I thought deca is

00:23:36.920 --> 00:23:40.039
nine. Deca is ten. Okay, so ten -sided. Like

00:23:40.039 --> 00:23:43.210
a decade. Oh, yeah, yeah. Okay, thank you for

00:23:43.210 --> 00:23:48.890
that. What's nine? Nine -ade. I have no idea.

00:23:51.609 --> 00:23:56.730
Ninineal. Nona. Nona? N -O -N -A. Wow, we don't

00:23:56.730 --> 00:23:59.309
come across that very often because I would never

00:23:59.309 --> 00:24:02.630
have guessed that. A nine -sided polygon is a

00:24:02.630 --> 00:24:10.509
nonagon. Nonagon. Or enna. Enagon. E -N -N -E

00:24:10.509 --> 00:24:13.450
-A -G -O -N. Why would they change it up? What's

00:24:13.450 --> 00:24:17.930
with the switch up? So there's bi, tri, quint,

00:24:18.170 --> 00:24:25.130
quad, quint, hex. Yeah, hectagon. Seven, I think.

00:24:25.349 --> 00:24:28.589
I thought it was five. No, that's penta. Oh.

00:24:29.089 --> 00:24:40.210
Hecta. Penta. Octagon. Enagon. Nonagon. Regardless,

00:24:40.309 --> 00:24:46.230
I have not seen a 10 -sided. Why would they even

00:24:46.230 --> 00:24:51.670
do it? You know, 10 -sided. Yeah. He's measuring

00:24:51.670 --> 00:24:56.369
out with his hands. Because we always see six

00:24:56.369 --> 00:24:59.430
-sided or eight -sided, you know, octagonal or.

00:24:59.670 --> 00:25:02.410
Why would you do 10? I don't know. Maybe it's

00:25:02.410 --> 00:25:04.960
the lantern room drove it. I don't know, but

00:25:04.960 --> 00:25:06.680
it's very special. Maybe they just wanted it

00:25:06.680 --> 00:25:08.420
to be special. I'm guessing it too many things.

00:25:08.779 --> 00:25:10.660
So it's kind of a fun. Oh, and then at that same

00:25:10.660 --> 00:25:13.160
time, they got a third order lens, still fixed

00:25:13.160 --> 00:25:16.740
white. And then two 10 inch steam whistles were

00:25:16.740 --> 00:25:20.799
added for stormy or foggy weather. One in 1872

00:25:20.799 --> 00:25:23.839
and another that matched it perfectly in 1876.

00:25:23.920 --> 00:25:27.240
So we just like double punched. Yeah. Like that.

00:25:27.299 --> 00:25:29.700
I would have liked a dual tone, honestly, but.

00:25:29.880 --> 00:25:33.220
You think that they harmonized or no? No, not

00:25:33.220 --> 00:25:38.160
the same. But there are biphonal foghorns, remember?

00:25:38.859 --> 00:25:42.200
Yes. Oh, didn't you show a video of one that

00:25:42.200 --> 00:25:44.680
was... That we played the sound. Yeah, I like

00:25:44.680 --> 00:25:47.420
that. Very satisfying. But I wonder what the

00:25:47.420 --> 00:25:50.980
purpose... Do you think it's twice as powerful

00:25:50.980 --> 00:25:54.359
to have two of the exact same? Or do you think

00:25:54.359 --> 00:25:57.140
you just point them in opposite directions and

00:25:57.140 --> 00:25:59.279
now you're... I'm going to base this on what

00:25:59.279 --> 00:26:02.480
I do at work. If there are two air handling units,

00:26:02.720 --> 00:26:05.480
which are air conditioning boxes, and you put

00:26:05.480 --> 00:26:07.839
one of them outside of the building, there's

00:26:07.839 --> 00:26:10.759
a certain pattern you see of the noise dispersion.

00:26:11.259 --> 00:26:13.920
Noise pollution, we have to monitor at certain

00:26:13.920 --> 00:26:17.740
distances. And if you were to put two side by

00:26:17.740 --> 00:26:22.799
side, it's not double the sound power. It's less

00:26:22.799 --> 00:26:25.000
than double, actually, but they are additive.

00:26:25.940 --> 00:26:29.410
So they're not additive one plus one. But there's

00:26:29.410 --> 00:26:31.329
an effect that happens. And there's a factor

00:26:31.329 --> 00:26:33.730
that comes in. Okay. All right, good. I mean,

00:26:33.750 --> 00:26:34.930
I'm sure that they knew what they were doing,

00:26:34.970 --> 00:26:38.329
but that was an interesting fact. Totally matching.

00:26:39.029 --> 00:26:42.049
Summer of 1893. So we're still in the 1800s.

00:26:42.210 --> 00:26:44.650
Shockingly, the fixed white characteristic was

00:26:44.650 --> 00:26:46.809
changed to a fixed white with an intermittent

00:26:46.809 --> 00:26:49.670
red flash. So we're still not revolving, but

00:26:49.670 --> 00:26:53.990
we added rotating flash panels around the Fresnel

00:26:53.990 --> 00:26:57.630
lens. So just every once in a while, there was

00:26:57.630 --> 00:27:01.450
a red. that would pass, you know, around the

00:27:01.450 --> 00:27:04.210
Fresnel lens. So you would perceive a red flash

00:27:04.210 --> 00:27:07.690
even though it was a fixed lens. Cool. Two years

00:27:07.690 --> 00:27:10.910
after that, the day mark was changed to white.

00:27:11.029 --> 00:27:13.809
So all this time we had a brown lighthouse. And

00:27:13.809 --> 00:27:15.630
then finally they changed it to white, which

00:27:15.630 --> 00:27:18.609
you can see in this picture, the background's

00:27:18.609 --> 00:27:21.990
very open. Not a lot of trees happening. I think

00:27:21.990 --> 00:27:26.029
today there's trees, but so I don't really know.

00:27:26.569 --> 00:27:29.750
Like at what point did the brown blend in too

00:27:29.750 --> 00:27:32.150
much with the blue sky? Well, why was it brown?

00:27:32.349 --> 00:27:34.670
Was that the base metal? Bare metal was brown

00:27:34.670 --> 00:27:36.990
because iron? I was trying to find out if it

00:27:36.990 --> 00:27:40.049
was rust or if it was painted, but I couldn't.

00:27:40.049 --> 00:27:41.069
I just saw that it was brown. I'm guessing it

00:27:41.069 --> 00:27:44.650
was just bare iron, which would be rust. Yeah.

00:27:45.230 --> 00:27:47.849
Okay. That makes sense. But also, what about

00:27:47.849 --> 00:27:50.789
like Bolivar Point Lighthouse, which was black

00:27:50.789 --> 00:27:54.390
because of rust? I think it was a different type

00:27:54.390 --> 00:27:58.950
of deterioration. Okay. Plus, Bolivar's on the

00:27:58.950 --> 00:28:03.150
coast of the sea. Oh. So saltwater is, I think,

00:28:03.170 --> 00:28:05.529
more aggressive when it comes to deterioration.

00:28:05.710 --> 00:28:11.569
Agreed. And oxidation. Yeah. Of iron. Ferrous

00:28:11.569 --> 00:28:16.849
metals. Smort. Smort. Smort. We're so weird.

00:28:17.849 --> 00:28:19.849
My mom's probably listening to us from upstairs

00:28:19.849 --> 00:28:22.809
like, what a bunch of weirdos. Weirdos. Has anybody

00:28:22.809 --> 00:28:25.250
listed this garbage? So yeah, they changed it

00:28:25.250 --> 00:28:27.150
to white. And at the same time, they added a

00:28:27.150 --> 00:28:30.009
second assistant keeper position. And that was

00:28:30.009 --> 00:28:31.970
due to the workload of having a now rotating

00:28:31.970 --> 00:28:35.130
panels and the steam whistles that were added.

00:28:35.269 --> 00:28:39.490
So they had a first assistant keeper and a principal

00:28:39.490 --> 00:28:41.829
keeper, but now they added a second assistant.

00:28:42.470 --> 00:28:45.130
And the attached dwelling was changed into a

00:28:45.130 --> 00:28:47.990
duplex. So at that time, the first assistant

00:28:47.990 --> 00:28:49.970
and the principal keeper were sharing a house,

00:28:49.990 --> 00:28:52.329
like a normal house. And then they changed it

00:28:52.329 --> 00:28:55.430
to a duplex for them and built another house

00:28:55.430 --> 00:28:57.950
that was for the second assistant next door,

00:28:58.069 --> 00:29:01.650
which you can see in this current photo. That

00:29:01.650 --> 00:29:04.910
house is off to the side. Very secluded. I'd

00:29:04.910 --> 00:29:06.970
be like, actually, as the principal keeper, I

00:29:06.970 --> 00:29:10.549
think I should get first pick of a solitary house.

00:29:10.789 --> 00:29:14.069
Yeah, but you'd have to walk in the weather to

00:29:14.069 --> 00:29:16.410
get to the work. Yeah, I guess that is kind of

00:29:16.410 --> 00:29:18.849
a downside. Plus, it's kind of small. Like, look

00:29:18.849 --> 00:29:21.339
how big, unless it has a giant porch. But the

00:29:21.339 --> 00:29:23.440
porch is like half or a third of the house. Yeah,

00:29:23.440 --> 00:29:24.400
it's a little house. It's not like they built

00:29:24.400 --> 00:29:26.799
another one of the duplexes or something. Yeah,

00:29:26.799 --> 00:29:28.740
it's a little house. It's still nice to have

00:29:28.740 --> 00:29:33.099
a spot. 1896, still in the 1800s, the light characteristic

00:29:33.099 --> 00:29:35.480
was changed to a white flash every five seconds,

00:29:35.640 --> 00:29:38.759
then to every 10 seconds, then to off one second

00:29:38.759 --> 00:29:41.640
and on one second. So this was the span over

00:29:41.640 --> 00:29:44.000
like a decade that they changed it. But changed

00:29:44.000 --> 00:29:46.180
it a lot, probably because around this time there

00:29:46.180 --> 00:29:47.920
was a lot more lighthouses popping up on the

00:29:47.920 --> 00:29:51.740
Great Lakes. Had to do some shuffling of characteristics.

00:29:52.019 --> 00:29:56.599
Do you know any statistics regarding the sinking

00:29:56.599 --> 00:29:59.960
of boats in that area during that time? No. I

00:29:59.960 --> 00:30:02.619
wonder if anyone was confused due to any of those

00:30:02.619 --> 00:30:04.740
switches. Oh, I bet. Two years ago, I was coming

00:30:04.740 --> 00:30:06.559
through here, and I swear to God, it was a solid

00:30:06.559 --> 00:30:09.079
white. Because they would have books. They were

00:30:09.079 --> 00:30:13.819
shipkeeper books that would say which lighthouse

00:30:13.819 --> 00:30:17.059
was which. If you miss getting your new edition

00:30:17.059 --> 00:30:19.279
of your book, then it's not going to have an

00:30:19.279 --> 00:30:22.160
updated light characteristic in there. Honestly.

00:30:22.359 --> 00:30:26.640
Heck. Heckin' problems. Hey, that would be a

00:30:26.640 --> 00:30:29.880
good history buoy. Shipkeeper books. Yeah, it'd

00:30:29.880 --> 00:30:31.559
be good. If I could find any information. I don't

00:30:31.559 --> 00:30:33.539
really know how to describe. I bet you could.

00:30:33.740 --> 00:30:38.640
Maybe I'll try then. Maybe I will. 1923. So we're

00:30:38.640 --> 00:30:41.920
jumping ahead a little bit. 1920s. The Coast

00:30:41.920 --> 00:30:44.390
Guard established a lifeboat. Saving station.

00:30:44.609 --> 00:30:48.410
So we're going back to our history buoy at Whitefish

00:30:48.410 --> 00:30:51.329
Light Station. And the light keepers often participated

00:30:51.329 --> 00:30:54.049
in rescues. There was a lot of cool stories,

00:30:54.109 --> 00:30:56.630
but I didn't go too deep into it. So pulled up

00:30:56.630 --> 00:31:00.109
a couple pictures of what this lifeboat station

00:31:00.109 --> 00:31:03.130
looked like. The big boat? Yeah. In the background,

00:31:03.250 --> 00:31:08.410
I believe that is where the people, the crew

00:31:08.410 --> 00:31:11.190
for the lifeboat station lived. So it's weirdly

00:31:11.190 --> 00:31:15.769
far away. I think that's the... It's super dark

00:31:15.769 --> 00:31:19.769
back there. Yeah. But then in the forefront of

00:31:19.769 --> 00:31:21.910
the photo, you can see the actual boathouse with

00:31:21.910 --> 00:31:24.150
the tracks leading away from it. And in the photo

00:31:24.150 --> 00:31:26.430
next to it, you can see one of the boats on the

00:31:26.430 --> 00:31:28.650
track that leads to the water. So it's like a

00:31:28.650 --> 00:31:32.809
boat on a... Like a train track. A rail car.

00:31:33.789 --> 00:31:35.829
What are those things that are in like every

00:31:35.829 --> 00:31:38.849
Indiana Jones film? Oh. Where they're like in

00:31:38.849 --> 00:31:42.390
a mine? Yeah, the mine carts. Yeah. Except instead

00:31:42.390 --> 00:31:45.910
of a cart, it's a giant boat. Every 90s game

00:31:45.910 --> 00:31:49.109
ever had some sort of mine cart in it. It's awesome.

00:31:49.730 --> 00:31:52.990
It's kind of a beloved. I like it. But you're

00:31:52.990 --> 00:31:54.490
right. That's what it looks like. Some ropes

00:31:54.490 --> 00:31:56.089
on the bottom. Comes right out of the house.

00:31:56.869 --> 00:31:59.170
Slides right out of there. But the picture kind

00:31:59.170 --> 00:32:01.730
of shows you how big that boathouse actually

00:32:01.730 --> 00:32:04.369
is. Because from the top angle, it's like, oh,

00:32:04.390 --> 00:32:06.789
it's small. But then you see that the guys are

00:32:06.789 --> 00:32:10.569
half the size of the door. Yeah. Big garage.

00:32:11.019 --> 00:32:14.559
Yeah, exactly. That would be a great shop. Oh,

00:32:14.559 --> 00:32:18.759
yeah. I feel like we visited the life -saving

00:32:18.759 --> 00:32:22.720
station in Cape Cod. Race Point, is that right?

00:32:23.819 --> 00:32:27.740
Yes. I think it was at Race Point. And they had

00:32:27.740 --> 00:32:33.180
some huge doors in the boat area. But I don't

00:32:33.180 --> 00:32:34.920
remember tracks being there. I don't think they

00:32:34.920 --> 00:32:36.740
had tracks. They still had to get the boat out

00:32:36.740 --> 00:32:40.960
of the house, though. It was East Coast, so I

00:32:40.960 --> 00:32:43.180
think it was... I wonder why. I mean, the weather

00:32:43.180 --> 00:32:44.900
must have been bad enough to where they wanted

00:32:44.900 --> 00:32:47.940
to store it inside. Yeah, yeah, for sure. I think

00:32:47.940 --> 00:32:50.859
anything on... They still had boathouses for

00:32:50.859 --> 00:32:52.940
the life -saving stations, but because of the

00:32:52.940 --> 00:32:55.019
fact that the sand is constantly shifting, you

00:32:55.019 --> 00:32:58.099
can't have a track. Oh, that's interesting. Yeah,

00:32:58.099 --> 00:33:00.400
they had no choice but to hoof it. You know what

00:33:00.400 --> 00:33:07.960
I'm saying? That's good. But they closed this

00:33:07.960 --> 00:33:11.940
lifeboat station. In 1951, so less than three

00:33:11.940 --> 00:33:15.339
decades, but I think there were some really good

00:33:15.339 --> 00:33:17.960
stories about them working together with the

00:33:17.960 --> 00:33:24.059
lighthouse keepers and making it happen. In 1936,

00:33:24.220 --> 00:33:27.700
the sea had worn away enough of the coast to,

00:33:27.940 --> 00:33:32.980
well, the coast, the shore, is it the coast?

00:33:33.259 --> 00:33:37.660
Coast of a lake? Shoreline of a lake? Shoreline,

00:33:37.660 --> 00:33:40.789
I think, would be good. It's crazy. The coast

00:33:40.789 --> 00:33:42.910
may work as well. I'm not sure. I know. I don't

00:33:42.910 --> 00:33:45.950
know if those are specifically beachy terms or...

00:33:45.950 --> 00:33:51.029
Let's see. Oh, I skipped something. Oh, no. This

00:33:51.029 --> 00:33:56.410
needs to be touched on. 1926, which was three

00:33:56.410 --> 00:33:58.470
years after they established that lifeboat station,

00:33:58.809 --> 00:34:02.029
Whitefish Point Lighthouse had the most navigational

00:34:02.029 --> 00:34:06.750
aids of any light station because in 1926 it

00:34:06.750 --> 00:34:09.940
had a submarine oscillator. an air diaphone,

00:34:10.019 --> 00:34:13.260
and a radio beacon. And all of these were to

00:34:13.260 --> 00:34:16.719
help ships navigate around. Cool, what's a submarine

00:34:16.719 --> 00:34:21.440
isolator? I don't know. I think it was like a

00:34:21.440 --> 00:34:26.380
foghorn, but underneath. It like high -pitched

00:34:26.380 --> 00:34:28.039
where you can hear it going through the water.

00:34:28.260 --> 00:34:30.840
That's cool. Yeah, so. Okay, now I'm going to

00:34:30.840 --> 00:34:33.119
go back to what I was saying earlier. 1936, the

00:34:33.119 --> 00:34:35.380
sea had worn away enough of this coastline to

00:34:35.380 --> 00:34:38.340
threaten the fog signal building. And so they

00:34:38.340 --> 00:34:41.380
built a new one north of the lighthouse. So a

00:34:41.380 --> 00:34:43.019
little different spot than where it used to be.

00:34:43.099 --> 00:34:45.340
And in the same year, they added five wooden

00:34:45.340 --> 00:34:49.639
pile groins to stay erosion, which I've never

00:34:49.639 --> 00:34:54.119
heard before. A groin? Long, like... I've seen

00:34:54.119 --> 00:34:59.179
those before. Yeah, wood posts back to back leading

00:34:59.179 --> 00:35:01.420
from the shoreline into the water. Like a fence.

00:35:01.639 --> 00:35:03.960
So they added, yeah, like a... long wood fence

00:35:03.960 --> 00:35:06.360
that disappears into the ocean um they added

00:35:06.360 --> 00:35:08.300
five of those and this is actually a picture

00:35:08.300 --> 00:35:12.360
of the one from at whitefish oh wow yeah so it's

00:35:12.360 --> 00:35:13.900
definitely taken a beating but i don't think

00:35:13.900 --> 00:35:16.480
that they were perfect when they were first put

00:35:16.480 --> 00:35:19.280
in there anyway like if they're just for erosion

00:35:19.280 --> 00:35:22.440
but i guess also that was almost 100 years ago

00:35:22.440 --> 00:35:26.440
that they did that so it's a cool photo i've

00:35:26.440 --> 00:35:28.800
never heard that term i know groins i've seen

00:35:28.800 --> 00:35:33.300
it i've seen it um Spelled as groins and also

00:35:33.300 --> 00:35:39.179
G -R -O -Y -E -N -S, I think. I've never heard

00:35:39.179 --> 00:35:41.579
it before. Yeah. The more you know. A little

00:35:41.579 --> 00:35:44.460
tidbit there for you. A little couple of history

00:35:44.460 --> 00:35:52.980
buoys. 1968, the Fresnel lens was replaced with

00:35:52.980 --> 00:35:56.880
an aero beacon. And in 1970, the lighthouse was

00:35:56.880 --> 00:35:59.780
automated and all personnel were removed from

00:35:59.780 --> 00:36:02.269
the station. Tale as old as time. It's a shame.

00:36:02.670 --> 00:36:04.750
The station was placed on the National Register

00:36:04.750 --> 00:36:08.170
of Historic Places in 1973, so three years after

00:36:08.170 --> 00:36:12.630
it was automated. But there was no money to upkeep

00:36:12.630 --> 00:36:16.210
or do any sort of renovation on it. And eventually

00:36:16.210 --> 00:36:19.989
the Whitefish Township reached out to the brand

00:36:19.989 --> 00:36:23.050
new Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society

00:36:23.050 --> 00:36:26.929
in 1980 asking that they take on the task of

00:36:26.929 --> 00:36:29.349
restoring the lighthouse, which is a lot to ask

00:36:29.349 --> 00:36:32.289
of a brand new historical society. I wonder if

00:36:32.289 --> 00:36:34.809
it wasn't founded for that reason. It sounded

00:36:34.809 --> 00:36:37.989
like they were requested to do it. Can you imagine

00:36:37.989 --> 00:36:41.010
they opened like a little gift shop and someone

00:36:41.010 --> 00:36:44.269
was like, hey. Would you mind taking on one of

00:36:44.269 --> 00:36:46.190
the hardest things in modern day history? We

00:36:46.190 --> 00:36:47.789
just turned a beach cabana into a shop. What

00:36:47.789 --> 00:36:52.110
are you talking about? But, of course, they said

00:36:52.110 --> 00:36:55.329
yes. And the Shipwreck Society got a lease from

00:36:55.329 --> 00:36:58.349
the Coast Guard in 1983 and had museum exhibits

00:36:58.349 --> 00:37:01.510
open within two years. So that's kind of crazy

00:37:01.510 --> 00:37:04.889
fast. That is cool. They absolutely killed it.

00:37:04.929 --> 00:37:08.030
Took a picture of what it looks like today. Isn't

00:37:08.030 --> 00:37:11.059
it just so... Beautiful. Darn it. I hate when

00:37:11.059 --> 00:37:13.199
it's hard to choose my cover photo for YouTube.

00:37:13.739 --> 00:37:15.679
I thought of you when I picked this one. I was

00:37:15.679 --> 00:37:17.280
like, oh, this would be a good one. Either this

00:37:17.280 --> 00:37:19.639
or it's the black and white. You like them both?

00:37:20.179 --> 00:37:22.599
Yeah. Shame. It's a shame, Matt. So we're looking

00:37:22.599 --> 00:37:25.219
at a really pretty photo through some pine trees,

00:37:25.380 --> 00:37:29.420
I think. Some evergreens. Fully restored grounds

00:37:29.420 --> 00:37:34.280
with white paint. White paint, red roofs. Same

00:37:34.280 --> 00:37:37.659
for the lighthouse. Tower looks good. Really

00:37:37.659 --> 00:37:40.300
high quality photo, too. It's beautiful. Do you

00:37:40.300 --> 00:37:41.699
know what's going on these days with the tower?

00:37:41.860 --> 00:37:45.059
Is there a beacon at all? Yes. It's still flashing.

00:37:45.239 --> 00:37:48.960
So I'll mention that in a second. They turned

00:37:48.960 --> 00:37:52.360
it into a museum. This is really cool. In 1970,

00:37:52.599 --> 00:37:57.360
the lifeboat station was like closed off and

00:37:57.360 --> 00:37:59.460
the station house and the boathouse were sold

00:37:59.460 --> 00:38:02.519
in a government auction and taken off site, which

00:38:02.519 --> 00:38:04.320
I always think is so funny is that in history,

00:38:04.440 --> 00:38:08.400
buildings are moved a lot. that they're like

00:38:08.400 --> 00:38:10.480
i want to buy this one i want to buy that big

00:38:10.480 --> 00:38:13.719
boathouse and then they ship it you know yeah

00:38:13.719 --> 00:38:16.599
from one place to another like it can't be cost

00:38:16.599 --> 00:38:20.400
effective no and a lot of times we've seen people

00:38:20.400 --> 00:38:23.139
just destroy stuff that nowadays would be like

00:38:23.139 --> 00:38:26.820
oh the history but what about the history or

00:38:26.820 --> 00:38:28.980
sell pieces and parts of things for a dollar

00:38:28.980 --> 00:38:34.079
yeah yeah an ode to one of our past episodes

00:38:35.190 --> 00:38:39.230
In 1990, so 20 years after the station house

00:38:39.230 --> 00:38:42.429
and the boathouse were taken off into private

00:38:42.429 --> 00:38:46.230
ownership, the society acquired the station house

00:38:46.230 --> 00:38:49.590
and returned it to the light station. So the

00:38:49.590 --> 00:38:53.550
station house for the lifeboat was reacquired

00:38:53.550 --> 00:38:57.610
20 years later from a private owner and put back

00:38:57.610 --> 00:38:59.730
on the light station. So weird. I don't know

00:38:59.730 --> 00:39:02.570
how it's possible. How do you hunt down? Someone's

00:39:02.570 --> 00:39:07.389
shed probably. Oh, I bet somebody's house because

00:39:07.389 --> 00:39:10.809
it was a full station was a full house. It was

00:39:10.809 --> 00:39:13.110
so crazy. But like the boathouse was a different

00:39:13.110 --> 00:39:15.829
story. It wasn't until 2013 that the boathouse

00:39:15.829 --> 00:39:18.530
was bought and it couldn't be placed in its original

00:39:18.530 --> 00:39:20.369
location because that part was now underwater,

00:39:20.650 --> 00:39:23.150
which is pretty crazy. And so they placed it

00:39:23.150 --> 00:39:26.530
next to the cruise quarters building, which both

00:39:26.530 --> 00:39:29.389
of those were renovated and now holds an exhibit

00:39:29.389 --> 00:39:32.179
for the early Coast Guard era. And the station

00:39:32.179 --> 00:39:34.179
house was turned into guest housing. So you can

00:39:34.179 --> 00:39:37.280
rent it if you go and visit like an Airbnb. Heck

00:39:37.280 --> 00:39:39.960
yeah. Yeah. A little bit of history. Who owns

00:39:39.960 --> 00:39:42.900
it today? The Shipwreck Society. Okay. Yeah,

00:39:42.920 --> 00:39:46.480
they own it all. So the USLHS, for those of you

00:39:46.480 --> 00:39:50.239
who don't know, also has two Airbnb properties.

00:39:51.159 --> 00:39:52.679
Maybe they don't call them Airbnbs. Point No

00:39:52.679 --> 00:39:55.579
Point. Yeah, Point No Point. And I forget the

00:39:55.579 --> 00:39:58.480
other one. It's up in Washington. Those are beautiful

00:39:58.480 --> 00:40:01.539
properties as well. It's always fun to stay in

00:40:01.539 --> 00:40:02.039
a bit of history. I didn't know about this one.

00:40:02.219 --> 00:40:05.739
Yeah. An act of Congress officially transferred

00:40:05.739 --> 00:40:07.420
the light station of the Shipwreck Society in

00:40:07.420 --> 00:40:12.079
1996. So yeah, they own it now. Cool. The Great

00:40:12.079 --> 00:40:14.599
Lakes Shipwreck Museum operates out of the light

00:40:14.599 --> 00:40:18.619
station with a brand new observation deck built

00:40:18.619 --> 00:40:36.409
in May. What? No. Oh, sorry. Hold on. The laugh

00:40:36.409 --> 00:40:38.929
soundtrack is probably the worst sound effect

00:40:38.929 --> 00:40:41.809
we have on here. It bugs me every time. Which

00:40:41.809 --> 00:40:43.750
is funny because I listen to Friends every night.

00:40:45.030 --> 00:40:49.510
Yep. The show Friends. Okay, so they have a brand

00:40:49.510 --> 00:40:52.869
new observation deck. Yes. And obviously from

00:40:52.869 --> 00:40:54.710
the picture you can see it's very well upkept.

00:40:54.769 --> 00:40:57.420
It's nice. The lighthouse has actually been in

00:40:57.420 --> 00:41:00.440
continuous operation since 1961 when it was first

00:41:00.440 --> 00:41:02.920
built, making it the oldest operating lighthouse

00:41:02.920 --> 00:41:07.019
on the Great Lakes. 1861. What did I say? 1961.

00:41:07.679 --> 00:41:12.300
1861. Yeah. Add a decade. Add a decade. Add 10

00:41:12.300 --> 00:41:18.159
decades. What is wrong with us? It's Thursday.

00:41:18.239 --> 00:41:20.699
Yeah. We're going to the pub next. Oh, yeah.

00:41:20.719 --> 00:41:23.480
We are going to an Irish pub. So maybe that's

00:41:23.480 --> 00:41:25.530
what's wrong with us. We're just ready for some

00:41:25.530 --> 00:41:31.130
sausage in pastry. Flaky pastry. With some mustard

00:41:31.130 --> 00:41:37.809
dip in. I would like to visit this place. Yeah,

00:41:37.849 --> 00:41:42.469
and also, I'm not done. The light still flashes

00:41:42.469 --> 00:41:44.010
to this day, like we were talking about. Two

00:41:44.010 --> 00:41:48.730
quick flashes separated by 4 .8 seconds. And

00:41:48.730 --> 00:41:51.190
then there's 20 seconds of darkness before the

00:41:51.190 --> 00:41:56.019
next set of two flashes. So an interesting pattern,

00:41:56.079 --> 00:41:58.659
which is not similar to what it had in the past.

00:41:58.800 --> 00:42:02.599
No. Very cool. They have a live weather cam on

00:42:02.599 --> 00:42:05.639
their website. I love it when they have live

00:42:05.639 --> 00:42:08.360
weather cams. So you just get to watch the trees

00:42:08.360 --> 00:42:11.619
sway and the people walk and the lighthouse flash.

00:42:14.860 --> 00:42:17.239
It is nice. I'm really selling it. Yeah. I got

00:42:17.239 --> 00:42:21.449
one more picture to pull up. This is down on

00:42:21.449 --> 00:42:23.909
the ground of all the buildings that are included.

00:42:24.070 --> 00:42:26.030
It's like a lighthouse village. It's like a little

00:42:26.030 --> 00:42:28.690
village. Little white houses and red roofs. I

00:42:28.690 --> 00:42:31.489
love it. And it didn't used to look like this

00:42:31.489 --> 00:42:33.429
either. They kind of, as they brought buildings

00:42:33.429 --> 00:42:35.469
back and everything, they've collected them into

00:42:35.469 --> 00:42:38.050
this little village, little society. It's nice.

00:42:38.269 --> 00:42:40.570
Yeah. Looks like a great, great visit. Yeah,

00:42:40.610 --> 00:42:42.230
so everything's been painstakingly restored.

00:42:42.869 --> 00:42:45.460
And we have the Keeper's Count. Quarters, the

00:42:45.460 --> 00:42:48.019
lighthouse, fog signal building, and oil houses

00:42:48.019 --> 00:42:51.420
associated with the lighthouse service. And then

00:42:51.420 --> 00:42:54.239
for the lifeboat station for the Coast Guard,

00:42:54.320 --> 00:42:56.880
we have the cruise quarters, surf boat house,

00:42:57.059 --> 00:43:02.019
and lookout tower. And it also has the White

00:43:02.019 --> 00:43:05.460
Shoal second order lens on display, which is

00:43:05.460 --> 00:43:07.139
probably something I said in our White Shoal

00:43:07.139 --> 00:43:10.360
lighthouse episode. And I just forgot. Or I didn't

00:43:10.360 --> 00:43:13.579
know when I say Great Lakes Shipwreck Society.

00:43:14.510 --> 00:43:17.769
I don't know that that's referencing this specifically.

00:43:18.070 --> 00:43:21.289
Interesting. I think White Shoal is our number

00:43:21.289 --> 00:43:23.989
one viewed episode on YouTube. That's the one

00:43:23.989 --> 00:43:26.070
that's falling apart, right? That's right on

00:43:26.070 --> 00:43:30.110
the brink of destruction. I have to revisit it

00:43:30.110 --> 00:43:34.010
probably. Yeah, it's out. Red and White Candy

00:43:34.010 --> 00:43:37.130
Stripe, I think. Yep, that's it. Yeah. The cover

00:43:37.130 --> 00:43:39.909
photo is in Glacial Ice. Not Glacial Ice. I also

00:43:39.909 --> 00:43:41.489
think this is the one that had... Floating Ice.

00:43:41.900 --> 00:43:46.340
The mercury float that degraded the inside of

00:43:46.340 --> 00:43:49.880
the lantern room. White Shoal? Yeah. Let's go

00:43:49.880 --> 00:43:51.760
check out our number one episode on YouTube.

00:43:52.599 --> 00:43:54.619
Plug, plug, plug. So they have that second order

00:43:54.619 --> 00:43:58.780
lens built in this museum in a way like the museum

00:43:58.780 --> 00:44:06.579
that we saw at Martha's Vineyard Haven. Yeah.

00:44:07.000 --> 00:44:09.539
So that museum. That was really cool. Yeah. So

00:44:09.539 --> 00:44:12.380
it's kind of in that same. Nice. You know, depends

00:44:12.380 --> 00:44:14.400
on that same way. Yeah. Second order clamshell.

00:44:14.460 --> 00:44:17.860
Very cool. And that museum's open May 1st through

00:44:17.860 --> 00:44:22.000
October 31st from 9 a .m. to 5 p .m. daily. Cool.

00:44:22.159 --> 00:44:24.559
Yeah. And that's what I got on Whitefish Point

00:44:24.559 --> 00:44:28.659
Lighthouse. Whitefish Point Lighthouse in Whitefish.

00:44:28.960 --> 00:44:31.119
On Whitefish Point. On Whitefish Point. Whitefish

00:44:31.119 --> 00:44:36.280
Bay in Michigan. Nice. So yeah. If you want your

00:44:36.280 --> 00:44:38.280
whitefish. I don't know what whitefish is specifically.

00:44:38.679 --> 00:44:40.400
I'm not sure. We probably don't have it here.

00:44:40.960 --> 00:44:43.260
I wonder if it's like a classification. Maybe

00:44:43.260 --> 00:44:45.599
it's like a general term for like tilapia. Red

00:44:45.599 --> 00:44:49.920
meat. Not salmon. Tilapia. Oh, yeah. I see what

00:44:49.920 --> 00:44:56.440
you mean. Yeah. Yep. Yep. Yep. No idea. We're

00:44:56.440 --> 00:45:01.179
jonesing for some Irish cuisine. So we better

00:45:01.179 --> 00:45:04.150
wrap this up. Wrap it up. Hope everyone enjoyed

00:45:04.150 --> 00:45:06.190
this episode. Another Michigan lighthouse coming

00:45:06.190 --> 00:45:08.670
at you. And another listener lighthouse. So continue

00:45:08.670 --> 00:45:11.090
to send us lighthouses you want to hear about.

00:45:11.809 --> 00:45:14.969
We'll recover them best we can with our limited

00:45:14.969 --> 00:45:17.809
knowledge. Yep. We love the support. We love

00:45:17.809 --> 00:45:19.909
the comments. Keep them coming. Yeah. Check out

00:45:19.909 --> 00:45:22.170
our YouTube. And you can also leave us a review

00:45:22.170 --> 00:45:24.969
on our website, thelighthouselowdown .com, which

00:45:24.969 --> 00:45:27.329
we just renewed. So we definitely have it for

00:45:27.329 --> 00:45:30.530
another year. And hope to catch you next time

00:45:30.530 --> 00:45:36.429
on... The lighthouse? Whatever. That's not good.

00:45:36.730 --> 00:45:37.170
Sorry.