In 1827, a group of Scotsmen shipwrecked near Port Clinton. Rather than continue on to their destination of Chicago, they remained at Port Clinton and quickly developed a fishing trade. Germans soon joined the Scots, and by the early 1830’s Port Clinton was a major fishing center with fish sheds sprinkled all along the Portage River estuary.

In October of 1832, the government purchased acreage on the east side of the mouth of the Portage River for lighthouse purposes. Two months later, the respected contractor, Levi Johnson of Cleveland, was commissioned to build a lighthouse on the property. In this first incarnation, the Port Clinton Lighthouse was a round, pyramidal tower, constructed of split-stone. The lighthouse stood forty feet tall and used an array of eight lamps backed by reflectors to project a beam ten miles into the lake. Johnson was also responsible for the single-story keepers residence, also built of split-stone, that was erected near the tower. The Portage River ran within 100 feet of the lighthouse buildings before emptying into the lake at present-day Fulton Street.

Six months after work on the lighthouse commenced, Austin Smith, a sea captain from Connecticut, became the first lightkeeper. His granddaughter, Juliet Smith, became the first child born in the residence. Smith provided the warmth of his home to a group of people who were shipwrecked in 1836. Like the Scottish mariners a decade earlier, the shipwrecked party was on their way to Chicago, but took a liking to the Port Clinton locality and made their homes there.

As early as 1843, an inspector recommended that since commerce in Port Clinton Harbor consisted of only two or three boats a year, the maintenance of the lighthouse was not justified. This started an on-going debate over the usefulness of the lighthouse. Its life was apparently spared as records show that the lighthouse was outfitted with a sixth-order Fresnel lens in 1855. The Ottawa County Union also sent out a notice to mariners on October 7, 1870, stating that on or after October 1st, a white light would be exhibited at Port Clinton instead of a red light, and that the front lights at the outer and inner mariner ranges would also be changed to white and the middle range would continue to show two red lights by order of the inspector. In addition, the Ottawa Union published a letter from Thornton A. Jenkins, Naval Secretary, to the Secretary of the Treasury’s Office of Lighthouse Board, requesting that the lightkeeper be paid to December 31st, 1870.

During the 1860s and 70s several groups and individuals campaigned for the continued operation of the light at Port Clinton. The Ottawa Union argued that the only port in the district with as many entrances and clearances as Port Clinton was Sandusky. The community protested against the remarks that Commodore Scott, and old salter, made to the Naval Secretary that nothing but a few sand pans used the light of Port Clinton. The Union stressed that seven steamers, besides scows and schooners, plied the waters of the Portage River day and night. As a compromise, the paper proposed that the lighthouse be donated to the town, who would then use entrance fees to maintain the lighthouse.

In this 30-year period of dispute over the lighthouse’s future, poor records were kept on the lightkeepers. The first keeper mentioned after Smith and family was George O. Momeny and his wife, appointed in 1852 on the recommendation of General J.A. Jones and others of the Democratic Party. Momeny resigned after six years and was honorably discharged from his duties. Leander Porter and his wife resided at the lighthouse property from 1864 to 1869. Although there is some dispute over whether he was an actual keeper or just a custodian for the property, reports indicate that the light at “the old sentinel” was in service during this period.

Between the 1870s to 1890s, the lighthouse appears to have been discontinued as it was rendered useless by the change in the course of the channel entering the harbor. Still, other lights likely mark the entrance to the river and residents of the old keeper’s dwelling appear to have been responsible for these lights. Captain William Duff and his wife lived at the lighthouse residence while they waited for their new house to be built. Their son, Alfred was born there and daughter, Matilda, died there in 1875. Additional dateless residents were two unrelated Goode families. Mary Converse lived at the lighthouse residence in the 1880s and married William Battin. The Elmore Independent reported in an article on December 14, 1888 that Mrs. Battin was one of the few woman light keepers.

1896 Port Clinton Lighthouse Photograph courtesy U.S. Coast Guard

Additional residents were Mrs. Laura K’Burg, and sons Howard and Clayton. Peter Hineline lived there afterwards, and was outlived by his wife Mary. Her son-in-law, Robert Waterfield, took charge from 1896 to 1899 and tended the pier lights. In 1893, the U.S. Congress authorized $1,500 for the renovation of the Port Clinton Lighthouse, but it is unclear whether the funds were ever used on the original tower. In August of 1899, Waterfield and his assistant razed the old, split-stone tower. The stone was removed by the government steamer, Warrington, and was taken by scow to Detroit River where it was to be used to protect the beach in front of the Grassy Island light. The Elmore Independent, dated August 18, 1899, expressed regret at the destruction of the old landmark, which stood the weather for many years and was just as solid in 1899 as the day it was first built. When the work was done, no trace of the old light remained, and it lived only in the memories of a few old timers.

On July 15 1896, a new light was placed at the end of the west breakwater. In this second incarnation, the Port Clinton Lighthouse was a four-sided, pyramidal wooden structure. The light had a single kerosene lantern located approximately 26 feet above water level and its red light was visible for six miles. The original stone dwelling was torn down in the spring of 1901. Work on a new keeper's residence began in June, and the new dwelling located on the grounds of the first was occupied in the fall of 1901. George Pope was one of the first keepers of the new lighthouse, serving from 1900 until his death. He was noted for making his regular trips to the lighthouse at end of the pier even when the lake and river were frozen. David Sutherland succeeded Pope. Sutherland was later transferred to Toledo to care for the Manhattan Range lights, and his son, Wallace, took charge of the Port Clinton Lighthouse. Under Wallace Sutherland’s watch electric current was substituted for the oil burners.

The government sold the lighthouse lot and keeper’s dwelling to a physician by the name of H. J. Pool in 1927, who used the dwelling as a nurse’s home. The property was later sold to Doris Dubbart in 1945. Presently, the 1901 dwelling is home to a restaurant known as The Garden at the Lighthouse. The restaurant's décor emphasizes the rich local history of Port Clinton, with walls adorned with framed historic documents and artifacts.

In the 1960s, the wooden Port Clinton lighthouse was removed from the breakwater and relocated to a marina on the Portage River. Now in its third incarnation, the Port Clinton Lighthouse consists of a pair of flashing red and green entrance lights.

Photo Gallery: 1 2 3 4

References

1. The American Lakes Series: Lake Erie, Hatcher, Harlan. The Bobbs-Merrill Company: Indianapolis, New York.
2. Historical Files of Harris-Elmore Public Library, Ohio.
3. “Jottings off the cuff: Lighthouse once in Port Clinton,” Sperber, Ray G, Port Clinton News-Herald, April 19th, 1974.
4. “Three Lighthouses have shown the way for mariners,” News-Herald, April 7th, 1978.