Our Tour of Rock Island Lighthouse

© by Mark Wentling, 6 October 2001       << return to menu       please read copyright notice

The Lighthouse: Interior                       (click on any image to view a full-size version)

 The original door of the lighthouse was wooden and had two small square windows at the top; it offered little protection after the station was deactivated. Most recently, the black metal door you see here was taken from the generator house and a chain and padlock added to secure the entrance against vandals, who did damage to the station during the 1970's and 1980's.
Glass skylights in the floor of the lantern room illuminate the stairwell with an ethereal glow.
It is four stories up to the top of Rock Island lighthouse.
Through the back of this storage compartment, built into the wall of the lower section of the tower, one can see the plaster/stucco lining that protects the exterior of the tower
At the top of the first flight of stairs one can look out this window for a view of the island.
Here the transition can be seen between the brick construction and iron stairs of the lower section, and the white-washed cast iron walls of the upper pre-1903 tower.
The doorway of the original cast iron tower was converted to a window, on the second landing of the current tower.
At the second landing can be seen the beginning of the stairs from the original cast iron tower.
Grandma and I stopped to have our picture taken here on the second landing at which is the beginning of the original section of the cast iron tower. Here, everyday from 1886 to 1901, would start her great-grandfather's workday, and these are the steps her grandmother knew as a child growing up on the island.
A portal on the third landing was used by keepers for observation.
The uppermost section of the tower is lined with tongue-in-groove construction wood slats.
A view of the skylights installed in the floor of the lantern room, as seen from the third landing.
The closet on the fourth landing of the lighthouse was mentioned in a 1909 descriptive report about the island as used for storing "towels, curtains, etc" needed for maintaining the condition of the lamp.
A last look down the stairs before ascending into the lantern room.
These stairs lead up into the lantern room.
A view from inside the lantern room looking back down the stairs.
Skylights were sunk into the floor of the lantern room to illuminate the keepers path up the spiral staircase below.
A small cast iron door, which is now boarded shut, provides access to the walkway around the exterior perimeter of the lantern room—it was used by keepers when maintenance was required, such as brushing snow off the glass, or shooing river flies that had alighted themselves on the windows.
In the 1940's the fresnel lens was removed, and today the lamp shown here illuminates the river with a white light.
A solar panel was installed to power the lamp in the 1980's at the suggestion of Manny Jerome.
First in a panorama of Rock Island as seen from the lantern room of the current tower—shown here is the generator house, behind which can be seen the shores of Fisher's Landing.
The keeper's view of home.
A view of the east end of the island, which has been the site of the more change and construction over the last century than any other section.
Grandma is shown here in the lantern room once tended by her great-grandfather, flanked by a view of the Thousand Islands International Bridge, in the far distance, which her father helped build in the 1930's.
A hole in the ceiling of the tower provides ventilation.

NOTICE OF COPYRIGHT: All photographs, text, and electronic files comprising this tour website are the exclusive property of the creator, Mark A. Wentling, and all rights to reproduction are wholly reserved. No part(s) may be reproduced in part or in whole, in any format (print, electronic, or otherwise) for any purpose without prior written consent. To inquire about permission for re-using these materials, please send an email to Mark A. Wentling at keeper@rockislandlighthouse.org

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