Stannard Rock Fishing — History

 

Historical Information

Fifty miles north of Marquette.

First discovered by Charles C. Stannard, the captain of the schooner "John Jacob Astor" in 1835, the protruding rock at the southern end of the reef become known forever as Stannard's Rock. In its 1866 report, the Lighthouse Board noted that this reef was "the most serious danger to navigation in Lake Superior," and in order to marks the hazard until a more permanent solution could be installed, a temporary beacon was installed in 1866. Two years later, a cut-stone crib was bolted to Stannard's Rock to see if such a structure could withstand exposure to Superior's fierce storms and winter ice.

The test must have been considered successful, as $10,000 was allocated to perform a detailed survey of the reef area in 1874. That same year, the survey was performed by a crew of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under the supervision of Major General Godfrey Weitzel. After review of the surveys and the results of the test crib installed six years earlier, it was determined that construction of a light was feasible, and thus Congress appropriated $50,000 in order to commence construction.

It was clear from the start that the Stannard's Rock construction project would be an expensive undertaking. The Lighthouse Board estimated that the total cost for construction would end-up in the neighborhood of $300,000. When one considers that the average light station being built at this time was built on an average budget of $10,000, the immensity of the expected cost becomes apparent.

Captain John A. Bailey, who had previously supervised the construction of the light at Spectacle Reef, was selected to direct the work at Stannard's Rock. Work began with the cutting, dressing and pre-fitting of huge granite stones at Marblehead Quarry on Lake Erie. These were transported on a stone barge to Lake Superior. Weighing up to thirty tons a piece, these stones were hoisted from the boat and into position on the rock to a height of thirty three courses, approximately 2,000 feet northwest of the 1868 test crib in July and August of 1881.

As an Interesting side story, the barge used to transport the stone from Lake Erie underwent a $3,000 conversion the following year, and was placed into service as lightship LV-10 on the St. Clair and Detroit Rivers before finally being scrapped in 1902.

Finally, the components of the massive Second Order Fresnel lens were hoisted and carried up the 141 steps to the lantern room, where they ware carefully reassembled. Manufactured in 1881 by the Henry-Lepaute of Paris, the lens cost $25,000, a small fortune for the time. Featuring twelve bull's eyes and an equal number of upper and lower catadioptic prism panels assembled on a steel framework, the entire lens assembly weighed-in at almost two tons. The periphery of the assembly was mounted on a set of wheels, which traveled in a circular track.

Powered by a hand-wound clockwork occulting mechanism, the entire assembly turned at a speed of three minutes per rotation.

Construction complete, Stannard's Rock light stood a majestic one hundred and two feet above the lake, and ended-up costing a total of $305,000, amazingly close to the originally estimated $300,000.

On the appropriately patriotic day of July 4, 1882, John Pasque, the first keeper assigned to the light trimmed, adjusted, and exhibited the light for the first time.

Originally illuminated by a triple-wick lantern fueled by whale oil, it was later upgraded to a kerosene fueled incandescent oil vapor mantle lamp, similar in concept to the "Coleman lanterns" in use today. The lens was electrified in 1944 with the installation of a 500 watt DC electric bulb powered by a system of generators and batteries, which outputted approximately 200,000 candlepower.

Stannard's Rock Light became widely known among mariners as the "loneliest lighthouse in the United States." It was officially classified as a "stag" station and as such women and children were forbidden. Keepers assigned to such remote outposts received a higher rate of pay than those on land-based lights, and in order to break the mind-numbing monotony of the isolation, worked a "three weeks on, and three weeks off" work schedule.

It took a "special" kind of man to work in such isolation and confined conditions, and to this end most assignments to such remote outposts were of short duration. Many a man found the conditions intolerable. One keeper was removed after he threatened to jump in the water and swim for shore, and a Coast Guard seaman is rumored to have been removed from the rock in a straitjacket! However, such isolation must have sat well with at least two of the keepers, since Elmer A. Sorumen worked the light from 1934-54 and Louis Wilks worked the light from 1936-53.

On June 18, 1961, a four-man Coast Guard crew consisting of seamen Oscar Daniels, Walter Scobie, Richard Horn and William Hamilton were working at Stannard's Rock automating the light. For some unknown reason, the propane and gasoline stored in the building at the base of the tower, and used to power the station's generators exploded, causing major damage to the structure. When the smoke and flames subsided, William Hamilton, who had been standing by the storage building was dead. With their radio destroyed, and without food, the three remaining seamen had no means of communicating with shore, and thus huddled in their summer clothes on the pier, until they happened to be seen by a passing vessel two days later. The vessel notified the Coast Guard, and the tender "Woodrush" hurried to the station and rescued the men.

Today, Stannard's rock continues to stand vigil over the shoals it was built to protect, but does so without human assistance, since the station's light is completely automated with a solar-powered 300mm plastic lens.

In 1999, an interesting epilogue to the Stannard's Rock story was written.

In the years since the Coast Guard's removal of the lens from Stannard's Rock in 1961, a number of Great Lakes historians had been attempting to identify the whereabouts of the lens. With all possible stones turned, and no positive leads, hopes of ever finding the lens had been pretty well given up forever.

Out of the blue, in August 1999, Fred Stonehouse, the President of the Marquette Maritime Museum received word that the lens from Stannard's Rock had been found in storage at the Coast Guard curator's warehouse in Forestville, Maryland. Fred quickly assembled a task force to travel to Maryland to verify that the authenticity of the lens. Their hearts sank when they saw that the six wooden crates were marked with the words "Sault St. Marie Coast Guard Base," but their spirits soared when closer inspection revealed the words "Standard Rock Lens" on all six crates.

Arrangements were made to transport the crates back to the Marquette Maritime Museum, and thereafter the task of restoration began. Amazingly, all the components of the lens were present, and each had been so carefully crated at the time of removal that none were damaged. The huge lens is now proudly displayed at the museum.

In a subsequent trip to Stannard's Rock, Fred identified that the lamp's pedestal was still located within the lantern room. In June 2000, with the assistance of the crew of the USCG Sundew, the pedestal was removed from the tower, and taken to Marquette, where it is under restoration. Plans are underway to reunite the two components at the museum in the near future.