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
The second floor consisted of two roughly 10 foot square watch rooms at the east end of the building, and a catwalk and stairs to access the steel tower containing the light. The boilers were topped with steam domes which extended three or four feet up into the second floor, so either side of the catwalk was open to the first floor below. The second story was made of wood, with the roof of cedar shakes. The color of the building was pale yellow over a deep maroon base.
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
This was the view out the windows at the west end of the Ottawa Beach Hotel. Following the completion of the large addition after the turn of the century,
This photo and the photo below show the S.S. Puritan entering Holland harbor. The Puritan was operated by the Graham and Morton Line, and the ship made a daily round trip between Holland and Chicago. After about 1908, the Puritan stopped at Macatawa’s Interurban dock.
In this view to the west, note that the piers were still made of wood and that there appears to be several replacement timbers on the pier deck at the far left.
This floor plan shows the second floor after the removal of the steam boilers in 1936. The windows in the two watch rooms allowed the lighthouse keeper to look north and south. For a clear view west, one had to climb two flights of steps to the lantern room at the top of the lighthouse.
