Dennis Kennedy is the Catawba Island Historical Society’s spring speaker. (Submitted photo)

CATAWBA ISLAND – Johnson’s Island resident, Dennis Kennedy, will be the Catawba Island Historical Society’s (CIHS) spring speaker on Wednesday May 13. His presentation will detail the background of the Marblehead Lighthouse, the oldest continuously operating nautical beacon on the Great Lakes. It will begin at 6 p.m. at the Catawba Island Township Community Center, is open to the public, and is free of charge.

Kennedy, a past president of the Marblehead Lighthouse Historical Society, is originally from Columbus. He attended The Ohio State University where he received a degree in Industrial Design. Following post graduate employment, first by an architect and subsequently by a commercial industrial design firm, he purchased a small company in 1978 – Boss Display – that produced trade show exhibits.

“We slowly converted and grew Boss into an international business that specialized in building museum displays,” Kennedy said. “After selling the company and moving north to Lake Erie in 2002, it was almost preordained that I would volunteer with an organization like Marblehead Lighthouse Historical Society and its associated attractions at the Keeper’s House and Lifesaving Station Museums.”

Marblehead Lighthouse, built in 1822, is widely acclaimed as one of the most recognized and photographed landmarks in Ohio. It resides in the state’s second smallest park. Its Marblehead peninsula home is underlain by Columbus limestone, a mineral once frequently mistaken for marble which accounts for the location’s name.

“Columbus limestone is very durable and resistant to wave erosion,” Kennedy said. “This has enabled Marblehead Lighthouse to retain its original site for over 200 years. By contrast, the famous Cape Hatteras lighthouse in North Carolina was 1,500 feet from the sea when completed in 1870 and had to be moved in 1999 because ocean erosion had encroached to within 120 feet of its location.”

The presentation will last about 45 minutes and provide ample opportunity for questions and answers. It will begin with the fifteenth U.S. Congress setting aside $5000 in 1819 to build the 50-foot Marblehead tower. Tales will be told of the 15 lighthouse keepers. The first was Revolutionary War veteran Benajah Wolcott who died in 1832 and was followed in the role by his wife.

A lifesaving station was built near the lighthouse in 1876. Lucien Clemons, who had saved two sailors from a shipwreck off the Marblehead peninsula a year earlier, was named the station’s first commander. Kennedy played a key role in the design and construction in 2016 of a museum replica of the original Lifesaving Station. It includes a restored 27-foot Coast Guard rescue boat. His speech will elaborate upon evolution of the U.S. Lifesaving Service into the U.S. Coast Guard.

The Kennedy speech about Marblehead Lighthouse is part of Catawba Island Historical Society’s Cultural Lecture series. A total of three such presentations are planned for 2026. Information about the remaining two will be publicized and detailed on the CIHS website when available. Learn more about CIHS, including membership opportunities, at www.catawbaislandhistoricalsociety.com.