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A Guidebook for Pottawatomie Lighthouse Resident Docents |
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Department of Natural Resources |
Copyright © 2003 by Friends of Rock Island updated 2005 & 2006 |
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Introduction
How to Get to the Lighthouse
Lighthouse Rules
What to do Before You Arrive
What to Bring
Work Schedule
Your Day as a DocentToursSome Valuable Resources
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One
definition of "docent" is, "A lecturer or tour guide in a
museum."
Resident docents at the Pottawatomie Lighthouse are this and a bit more.
These pages are intended to guide you to a pleasant experience as a
Lighthouse Keeper and Docent at the Lighthouse on Rock Island. The Friends
of Rock Island and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources will
attempt to answer your questions and help you to anticipate all that is
required for a successful stay. We will explain what you may expect and
what is expected of you.
Kirby Foss Property Manager, Rock Island State Park
How
to Get to the Lighthouse:
Remember that you will have no store to go to if you find you have forgotten
something. If you have previously camped at Rock Island you will already
have a good idea of what to expect and how to prepare for your stay as
"keepers of the light."
When you Arrive: Plan to arrive at the State Park Dock to catch the first Karfi trip by 10:30 AM (last week of May through end of June and end of August through Columbus Day weekend - or 10:00 AM from the end of June through end of August).
Call (920) 847-2252 if you have any questions about the Karfi schedule
To obtain a Washington Island Ferry Line schedule call 1-800-223-2094 or check their web site: http://www.wisferry.com/.
The Park staff will give you some introduction to the Lighthouse and review the Lighthouse rules with you. They will show you the key for locking the Lighthouse and describe your duties during the week. They will cover the emergency procedures should anyone have an accident or a health emergency during your stay. They will tell you how often the park staff may visit during your week. Ask them any questions at that time.
Review the message board in the first floor kitchen closet to see notices from previous docents about conditions at the Lighthouse.
Work
Schedule:
Record notices for the next docent on the message board in the kitchen closet on the first floor. Describe problems you encountered that they should be aware of and solutions you came up with or that are still needed, supplies that need to be replaced, where things are located, tips that really provide successful for you, etc. Be sure the park staff knows about to your posted notes too.
You can set tour times each day by using the Next Tour Begins clock sign outside the Summer Kitchen. Some docents give longer tours than others. Some docents are working alone and may need to control the flow of visitors more than docents who work in groups and may have more than one tour guide giving tours.
Your time is your own during hours that the Lighthouse is not open for tours. If you are not in or near the building you must keep it locked. A key will be provided.
Your Day as a Docent:
When a large boat passes the Lighthouse through the Rock Island Passage, it is courteous to salute the boat by lowering the flags as follows:
The boats will salute you back with their flags too.
Lower the flags for the night anytime after 4:00 PM, fold them
properly and store them in the front hallway. Emergencies & First AidThe Park staff will help with any questions or problems. Use a cell phone to contact the park office at 1-920-847-2235.
A first aid kit is kept in
the Lighthouse kitchen in the left-side drawer of the china hutch.
If you have enough docents on your team, it
works well with 3 docents to split the tour duties into summer kitchen, first
floor and upstairs tours. Upstairs tours may take longer than first floor
tours because visiting the lantern room is slow going up and down the ladders
and some like to linger to take in the breathtaking view from that perch.
Another docent may be stationed in the cellar to show the school room, the base
of the tower and the storage areas of the lowest level. Include in your discussion in this room our Lighthouse donation box and our merchandise for sale. The proceeds from sales and donations allow us to maintain the Lighthouse. We were able to restore the Fresnel lens in the lantern room and the cliffside fence because of donations made to the Lighthouse Museum. Point out the rag rugs that can be found throughout the house which were made and donated by some women from Washington Island in 2005 in an attempt to protect the painted floors and make the house more homey.
Ask the tourists if any of them are related to anyone who worked or lived in this Lighthouse or any other lighthouse. It adds a whole new dimension to the story if you have descendents of Pottawatomie Lighthouse or other lighthouse people on your tour.
Then tell the story of the Pottawatomie Lighthouse as follows:
The first light and keeper’s quarters were built on Rock Island in 1836. They consisted of a 30 ft. high conical stone tower, which was 18 feet in diameter at its base and tapered to 9 feet in diameter at the top and a small stone house beside it. The iron lantern room at the top of the tower had 8 sides and contained an array of 11 Winslow Patent lamps with reflectors. A depiction of these first structures can be seen on the second floor under the stairs.
Point out the Keepers Plaque and show that
the keepers during the time to which the museum is restored were Charlie Boshka
and the Betts family. Point out Charlie Boshka's picture.
Point out the pictures of other keepers around the room -
Jessie
Miner and Jens Jacobsen. The grandchildren of Charlie Boshka and the
granddaughter of Jens Jacobsen attended the grand opening of the Lighthouse in
May 2004. The great granddaughter of Ira Cass toured the Lighthouse during July
2004 and again in 2005.
Jessie Miner lived in the nearby fishing
village and became a keeper of the light in 1886. He served as keeper for
12 years.
The "oil house"
was built early in the 20th Century as a place to store the
kerosene used in the lamps in the lantern room, home lighting and kerosene
stove. The keepers had objected to keeping the fuel in the cellar due to the
danger of fire. Later it was used as a coal bin. Off in the trees to the east you will see the remains of a stone foundation for some sort of structure. Although we are not sure of exactly what it may have been, it could have been a barn, icehouse, or root cellar.
Most fishermen and families had moved away by the 1870s, many to
Washington Harbor on Washington Island where the harbor was deeper and more
sheltered from storms.
Beginning the tour in the kitchen, point out the trap door that
permits inside entry to the cellar. It could be used to get to the storage area
and the school room without exiting the house. Do not open the trap door
as the stairs are not safe for use. There is an exterior entrance outside
on the east side of the Lighthouse and the cellar could be part of your tour.
In the summer the range
could be moved into the annex or "summer kitchen" to avoid
All of the furniture in the house is from the 1910 era and the dishes in the china hutch are replicas of the original Lighthouse Service dinnerware used at lighthouses across the country.
Notice the large closet that may have served
as a pantry and which now serves to store supplies for running the Lighthouse
Museum. The downstairs bedroom has several unusual details. Note that the front door enters directly into this bedroom. This entrance was used to bring the oil from the oil house into the Lighthouse where it was stored in the little closet - the only one like it in the whole house. When the lens needed oil, it was carried up from the Keeper's bedroom closet to the lantern room 3 stories up. Point out the red oil house out the east bedroom window.
Also, point out the white cliffside fence. It looks like the original and was restored as an Eagle Scout project in 2005 with funding for materials by the Friends of Rock Island organization.
On each side of the exterior door and the interior door you will note the wide square columns. They begin in the cellar and extend up to the lantern platform. These supports form the tower on which the lantern room sits. Point out the attractive millwork that surrounds the doors and windows, wide mop boards and paneled doors. Also point out the 12-light (12 panes of glass) windows. The wavy glass is original. All downstairs windows are 12-light. The second floor windows have only 8 panes.
Speaking of glass, point out the strange "cabinet" just to the left of the front door which was made to hold spare panes of glass for the lantern. There is a sample pane in the cabinet, so lift the lid off of the larger compartment to show how the spare glass was stored. The small compartment may have stored spare window panes.
Point out the plaque about Frank Sawyer.
He was the first keeper to live in this Lighthouse. He carved his initials
in the bricks that form the door lintel outside the front door. He carved
the O. of his middle initial as the Masonic symbol shown on the plaque.
Some campers who were Masons saw that carving and did research on Frank Sawyer
in the Masonic archives. They found the picture of Frank that is part of
the plaque in the Vermont Archives and obtained his military and Lighthouse
Service records to provide a detailed history of our first keeper. Ask if
any of the men on the tour are Masons. If yes, discuss how long it took
Frank to become a full Mason. We surmise that he was not raised to full
Mason for so long because he was not able to complete the steps to promotion
while he was serving at this Lighthouse. Keeper's Living Room Tour:
The downstairs living room was originally heated by a fireplace that was
subsequently bricked up and plastered over to be replaced by a much more
efficient parlor stove such as the one seen here. A gas heater was added
to the parlor stove to provide some heat for docents living here at the
beginning and end of each tour season when it can be chilly here.
Point out the graphaphone on display. It plays wax cylinders. This was the type of musical device lighthouse keepers would have enjoyed in the 1910 era.
All Federal buildings must have a picture of the current President of the United States on display. The president whose picture hangs in the living room is President Taft. He was president from 1909 - 1913 - during the period to which the Lighthouse Museum has been restored.
Front Hallway Tour: The west entrance probably served as the main entrance to the Lighthouse, providing access to both the keeper's quarters on the first floor and the assistant keeper's quarters on the second floor.
Point out the Lighthouse Library box. These boxes were so sturdy because they would be circulated among lighthouses by the light ships that brought supplies from time to time. Reading was a favorite past time of lighthouse people and because of reading so much, they were often very learned folks.
The flags that are flown everyday are kept on the shelves in the front hallway during the night or during inclement weather. The American Flag is from 1858 and fewer stars than our current American Flag because there were fewer states in 1858. The Pennant flag is a replica of an official Lighthouse Service Lightstation flag. It flies below the American Flag.
Second Floor Tour:
The second floor is reached by the stairway located in the front
hallway. The banister and railings are quite nice and show that the
Lighthouse Service spared no expense in building the Lighthouse although it
was not extravagant with its pay for the keepers. Corbin and several of
those following him received less than a dollar per day. Of course they had
a nice house (the very best on the island) to live in.
Large Bedroom Tour: This room is outfitted to sleep up to 4 people. Point out the potty chair, especially to kids. This room was the living room for the assistant keeper's family.
Assistant Keeper's Bedroom Tour:
Open the closet and point out the pegs used for hanging clothes. These are original pegs.
Museum Room Tour:
The casing of the right window in the museum room (kitchen) has two wires protruding.
Picture boards show what the lighthouse looked like prior to being restored. It was uninhabited from 1946 until 2004. It held up well, but needed a lot of restoration of walls and floors to make it look like it did while it was a working lighthouse. The restoration work was funded by a Wisconsin Stewardship Grant through the DNR and by donations collected by the Friends of Rock Island organization.
Office Tour: The depiction of the original Lighthouse shows a conical tower and a small stone house nearby. The foundation of the original house was found just south of this house and a recent archeological dig found the rectangle that formed the base of the house, but the foundation of the tower was never located. Our assumption is that this Lighthouse is built on the site of the original tower.
Lantern Room Tour: The stairway to the lantern room is quite steep and the second and third portions are more like ladders. (Watch your head!) Be sure that all visitors go up and down the ladders facing the ladder so they do not slip. Ask them to leave large packs in the office area under the stairs on the second floor for the trip up the ladders. Encourage visitors to take binoculars and cameras with them to the lantern room.
On the first landing, point out the small hatch window. This was used by the keepers to watch for passing ships. The little desk holds the Lighthouse log in which all passing ships were recorded, along with other pertinent Lighthouse keeping information. Point out the recreation of the original log of the Pottawatomie Lighthouse on display there.
A replica of a keepers cap is on the desk. You can put it on to show tourists how it looked or you can have a young tourist put on the cap, sit at the desk and look out the hatch window impersonating a keeper.
Because there is a 4th order lens in the lantern room, visitors will be limited and have to take turns ascending to that room.
In 1880 the original Winslow Patent lamp array was replaced by a 4th order
Fresnel (pronounced fra-nell) lens. The Fresnel lens which used kerosene was very
expensive but provided a much brighter light from one lamp than the Winslow
Patent gave from 11 lard-oil lamps and it was less work for the keepers. A map of the islands of the Grand Traverse Archipelago to the north of Rock Island will be found in the lantern room. The next island you see to the north is St. Martin's Island. Between Rock and St. Martin's is the Rock Island passage which is the preferred shipping route from Lake Michigan to Green Bay and back. The currents are very treacherous through Death's Door passage, so most ships make the trip north to Rock Island passage in order to have a safer voyage.
Other lighthouses are visible from the lantern room, especially at night. Off to the northwest is Minneapolis Shoal Lighthouse. It marks the entrance to Escanaba Harbor. Off to the northeast is Poverty Island Lighthouse marking the Poverty Island Passage to Green Bay. The lighthouse on St. Martin Island is not visible because it is on the northside of that island. On a very clear day, look as far east as you can and you might catch a glimpse of Fox Island off the coast of Michigan.
Cellar Tour: Enter the cellar from the outside door on the eastside of the Lighthouse.
In the late 1860s the cellar was used as a school taught by the wife of Assistant Light Keeper Abram Grover. Mrs. Grover taught her children as well as the few remaining from the eastside fishermen's village. Later Mrs. Emily Betts, who acted as Assistant Keeper for a time, also taught in the cellar.
The workbench in the school room is an original piece of the Lighthouse. The tools are samples of what the Lighthouse staff would have used in the 1910 era.
In the storage area of the cellar, you can see the pillars that form the base of the light tower, canning shelves, a paint locker and a coal bin.
Watch for snakes in the cellar. The
cisterns host snakes and the damp cellar attracts them too. In 2004, baby black ring-necked snakes were
observed in both the school room and the storage area of the cellar. Brown snakes and fox snakes have
also been
observed near the Lighthouse. None are poisonous.
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