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Keeper's House

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Marblehead Lighthouse and Original Keeper's House - 1859 Photo from  National Archives

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Marblehead Lighthouse, 1955   Photo by USCG

The present Keeper’s House which replaced the original stone keeper’s dwelling, was constructed in 1880 and was the home to four principal keepers and four assistant keepers and their families.  The house became a duplex in 1903 with the keepers living downstairs and the assistants living upstairs.  After the last keeper retired in 1943, the U.S. Coast Guard maintained the Lighthouse.  Some guardsmen and their families lived in the Keeper’s House and kept the light, then later it was used by the State of Ohio, Division of Parks and Recreation as a dormitory.  In 1968, a Lt. Irish of the Coast Guard told the newspaper that the Keeper’s House was not fit to live in and should be demolished. See our About Us Page to find out why it was not demolished.

Inside the Keeper's House
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The Lens Room

This room showcases the last Fresnel lens to operate in the Marblehead Lighthouse.  The 3 ½ order lens was in use at the Lighthouse until it was removed in 1969 and placed in storage in Detroit.  The U.S. Coast Guard and some local citizens were instrumental in bringing it back to Marblehead. It was displayed at the town hall and then the Coast Guard Station.  Since the spring of 2004, it has been on display at the Marblehead Lighthouse Museum.

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Explore how the lens works and learn more about the history of the lighthouse and its keepers when you visit the Marblehead Lighthouse Historical Society Museum.

The Keepers Room

LIGHTHOUSE KEEPERS

From 1822 to 1943, fifteen principal keepers and five assistant keepers tended the light. (Since one man was an assistant before he became the principal keeper, there were really only 19 people instead of twenty.) Marblehead boasts the first female keeper on the Great Lakes and has had two women maintain the light over the years.

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​​​Marblehead Light Keepers: 

  1. Benajah Wolcott

  2. Rachel Wolcott

  3. Jeremiah Van Benschoten

  4. John Roderick Williston

  5. Charles Ferris Drake

  6. Lodrick Colly Brown

  7. Jared Bradley Keyes

  8. David L. Dayton

  9. Thomas Dyer 

  10. Russell Douglas

  11. Thomas Julius Keyes

  12. George H. McGee

  13. Johanna H. McGee

  14. Charles A. Hunter 

    • Assistants- D. Clinton Egelton, Charles E. Perry, O. Earl Mapes, Andrew Turinsky, Edward M. Herman

  15. Edward Martin Herman​

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Keepers by the Numbers

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  • Oldest - Dyer at age 72

  • Youngest - Turinsky at age 15

  • Longest serving - Hunter, 30 years

  • Shortest  serving - Turinsky, 2 months

  • Babies born while lightkeeper-16

    • Had the most children Van Benschoten-14

  • Had no children - Hunter and Herman

  • Served in the military-7

    • Wolcott, Drake, T. Keyes, Egelton, Perry, Turinsky, Herman 

  • Born in: New York-5, Ohio-5, Connecticut-2, Massachusetts -1, New Jersey -1, Illinois -1, Pennsylvania -1and Kansas -1.

  • Not born in the United States- 2, 

    • Douglas - Canada and Wolcott - Connecticut British Colony. 

  • Died while keeper-3    

    • Wolcott, Dyer, G. McGee 

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More information on the Keepers can be found at: https://marbleheadkeepers.glide.page

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