Park visitors climb to the top of the Marblehead Lighthouse on June 21. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

BY SHERI TRUSTY

MARBLEHEAD – On June 21, the Marblehead Lighthouse Historical Society threw a 203rd birthday party for the Marblehead Lighthouse. Historical society officers Dennis Kenny, Maureen Kenny and Deb Cailor served cookies and ice cream on the lawn to celebrate the birthday of the light, which was lit for the first time on June 22, 1822. Today, it is oldest operating lighthouse on the Great Lakes.

“The light was built in the fall of 1821 by William Kelly, a Sandusky stonemason,” Dennis said. “He and five other men built it in 11 weeks.”

Remnants of an early quarry can be seen near the parking lot at Marblehead Lighthouse State Park.

“We’re about 100% certain that the limestone for the lighthouse came from that quarry,” Dennis said. “You’re not going to haul limestone any farther than you have to.”

Marblehead Lighthouse Historical Society Officer, Deb Cailor, left, serves cookies to a park visitor on June 21 in celebration of the 203rd birthday of the Marblehead Lighthouse. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

The light’s first keeper was Benajah Wolcott, who built a home a few miles down the road where he owned a 113-acre farm. The home, called the Keeper’s House, is owned by Danbury Township and operated as a historical site by the Ottawa County Historical Society. Dennis said Benajah was also caretaker of Ball Island, now known as Johnson’s Island.

“In 1806, Benajah was here with a survey team and fell in love with the Sandusky Bay area. He came back with his wife, Rachel, and resettled here,” Dennis said.

The Wolcotts were forced to move temporarily to Cleveland during the War of 1812, but moved back home when it was safe. In that era, the bodies of people who died of cholera while on ships were thrown overboard, and many of those bodies washed ashore near the lighthouse. Benajah and his son, William, contracted cholera from burying the bodies of cholera victims, and both died in 1832.

Marblehead Lighthouse Historical Society Officers, from left, Deb Cailor, Dennis Kenny and Maureen Kenny hosted the Marblehead Lighthouse’s 203rd birthday party. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

Not only was Rachel faced with the devasting loss of her husband and son, but she was suddenly burdened with raising her other children, running a farm, and operating the lighthouse alone. The sad circumstances made her the first female lighthouse keeper on the Great Lakes.

Rachel married Jeremiah Van Benschoten in 1834, and he became the lighthouse keeper. Rachel was therefore the first lighthouse keeper, and she was the wife of the first and third lighthouse keepers.

The keeper’s house that sits near the lighthouse in the park was built in 1880 and now serves as the Marblehead Lighthouse Historical Society gift shop. George McGee, the 12th lighthouse keeper, and his wife, Johanna McGee, raised ten children in the home.

Park visitors wait to climb to the top of the Marblehead Lighthouse on June 21. Tours, which cost $3, are offered every day, noon to 3:40. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

“George was ill much of the time, so Johanna became the unofficial lighthouse keeper,” Dennis said. “When he died, she became the official lighthouse keeper.”

Johanna McGee was the 13th lighthouse keeper, and the second widowed female keeper.

More information about the Marblehead Lighthouse Historical Society can be found at www.marbleheadlighthouseohio.org. Tours of the lighthouse are offered every 20 minutes, every day, noon to 3:40 p.m. Cost is $3.

Historical Society volunteer Marggie Faley was selling tickets for tours during the lighthouse birthday party on June 21.

“We get a lot of people up there and back down, and they’re excited to be there,” she said. “Everyone’s happy that comes to the lighthouse.”