The entire contents of this internet document are Copyright 2003 by the Ottawa Beach Historic Committee.
Website designed, written and constructed by Dan Aument
A National Register Historic Site since 1995 - A State of Michigan Historic Site since 2002
In this view to the north east with Mt. Pisgah at right rear, note that the heavy wooden catwalk has been replaced with one made of steel.
Lighthouse History - Third stage of Lighthouse Development 1907 - 1936
Original wooden tower 1872 - 1901/1902
Free standing steel tower 1901/1902 - 1907
Steel tower with fog signal building 1907 - 1936
Beacon tower added to fog signal 1936
Great lakes shippers apparently lobbied the (Federal) Lighthouse Board to add mechanical foghorns to the lighthouses. Mar tin Van Regenmorter, Holland’s first lighthouse keeper, is rumored to have blown an 18 inch long fish horn as an early fog signal. Because this horn could not be heard over a ship’s steam engine, the 12th Lighthouse District designed and built a building to house a steam powered fog signal: This carefully designed structure is known today as the Holland Harbor Lighthouse.
The bottom level has 13 inch thick concrete walls which serve as a solid anchor for the entire structure. The only access to this 21 foot by 31 foot crawl space was through an 18 by 18 inch panel on the east side of the building’s exterior.
The first floor was divided into a machine room containing two marine horizontal fire tube steam boilers for the fog signal and a coal bin for the boilers. There was a heavy workbench in the southeast corner (next to the tall double entry doors) with a heavy pipe vise for use in repairing the two inch diameter steam piping. Atop a second workbench in the southwest corner was a large brass tray. This was where the brass kerosene cans were handled. Apparently kerosene was transported to the fog signal building in a brass five gallon can. Kerosene was poured into several smaller brass cans to either refill the light or quickly ignite the coal fired boilers. There was a flush toilet in the northwest corner. The only other piece of equipment on this floor was a steam driven Wilmington Pony Pump. This was used to provide water for the toilet and the boilers.
In a 1976 interview, J.M. Boshka, the son of Holland’s last lighthouse keeper described the sound of the whistle as “mournful....The sound would change pitch, starting out low, then reaching a peak, then going low again.”
To hear what the Holland Lighthouse 10 inch locomotive whistle might have sounded like, click on the whistle at the right.
In this 1912 view to the south, the ten inch tall locomotive whistle may be seen sticking out of the right (west) side of the steel tower.
The Crawl Space as it was laid out after 1936 when the building furnace, six round portholes and a proper exterior door were added. The Basement, as it was called after 1936, was above the level of the pier head.
By climbing about ten feet up the steel steps on the east side of the building, one gains access to the First Floor of the lighthouse. Stepping inside, one can either climb the steps to the upper floors, or walk ahead into the equipment room. There are two small windows (tinted green in the above drawing) in the north wall and four windows in the south wall.
