The earliest fog signals were bells, struck by hand. Then a mechanism was developed that would strike the bell. Only after
the invention of the steam engine could lighthouses have fog whistles, sirens, or horns that were run by machinery. Tending
the fog machinery was an extra duty.
The early keepers in the 19th century earned an average of $300 a year—less than a dollar a day. By 1871
salaries had increased to between $400 and $600 a year. These salaries were supplemented by supplies brought by tender to
locations where there was no suitable land for gardening or keeping livestock. If there was tillable land on the lighthouse
reservation, keepers grew vegetables, fruit, and grain, and kept chickens, pigs, cows, and horses. They hunted and fished
while their wives sewed their clothes and linens, cured meat, and put up preserves. Do you know anyone who knows how to do
these tasks?
USCG photo
Lighthouse Maps
Lake Huron Detail of Eleventh Lighthouse District
Can you find Presque Isle Lighthouse on this map?
Click on map to view larger image
Source: 1881 Annual Report of the U.S. Light-House Board
This Reader's Guide is intended to be used with Lighthouses Short and Tall, a book for readers 11 and up written by Mary Louise and Candace Clifford. It is available from the publisher,
Cypress Communications, by using their book order form.
