A TUG TOWIXG A CAISSON TO BE SUXK FOR A LIGHTHOUSE; FOUNDATION (SEE PAGES 



20 AND 26) 



cut to interlock. Dwellings for the 

 keepers' families were built on the shore, 

 accommodations for the men only being 

 provided in the tower. 



Longfellow visited Minots light in 

 1871. and in a letter thus describes it: 

 "The lighthouse rises out of the sea like 

 a beautiful stone cannon, mouth upward, 

 belching forth only friendly fires." 



SPECTACLE REEF AND STANNARD ROCK 



Spectacle Reef lighthouse, built on a 

 reef near the northern end of Lake Hu- 

 ron, is a stone tower standing in a (lei)th 

 of II feet of water, 10 statute miles from 

 land. It is in a ])osition exposed to heavy 

 ice action. A cofifer-dam was constructed 

 at the site, the water was pumped out, 

 the bed-rock was leveled off, and the 

 hghthouse was constructed of cut stone, 

 securely fastened. It was completed in 

 1874, and is a notable engineering work. 

 ■The first year it was well tested by the 

 ice. When the keepers returned to the 

 tower in the spring of 1875 they found 

 the ice piled against it to a height of 30 

 feet. As this was 7 feet above the door- 

 way, they had to cut through the ice to 

 enter. 



Stannard Rock light, 24 statute miles 



from the nearest land and marking the 

 most dangerous reef in Lake Superior, 

 is the most distant from shore of any 

 lighthouse in this country. It was com- 

 pleted in 1882, constructed in a manner 

 similar to that on Spectacle Reef, and 

 stands in the same depth of water — 11 

 feet (see page 15). 



WHITE SHOAL LIGHT 



White Shoal, a dangerous spot in Lake 

 Alichigan. at the entrance to the Straits 

 of Alackinac, was marked for 19 years 

 by a light vessel anchored over it. On 

 account of the ice, this vessel could not 

 be kept on the station during a portion 

 of the season of navigation in the spring 

 and fall. As the unmarked shoal was a 

 serious menace to navigation at the.se 

 seasons, an appropriation was made for 

 building a lighthouse, and this was com- 

 ])leted in 191 1 at a co.st of $225,000. 



.V timber crib ^2 feet square and 18 

 feet high was built on shore and floated 

 out to the site, where the depth of water 

 was 22 feet. The bottom, which is of 

 coarse gravel, was covered with 2 feet 

 of rock, and the crib was filled with stone 

 and sunk. Above this was built a con- 

 crete pier, which supports the lighthouse. 



19 



