We should definitely go!
http://www.lighthousefriends.com/pull-state.asp?state=IN Buffington Harbor Breakwater, IN
Description: At the turn of the twentieth century, the southern shore of Lake Michigan, encompassing Chicago and Indiana’s shoreline, was the site of major industrial development. Steel mills, including the large plant and port at Gary, Indiana, were built to take advantage of the iron ore found abundantly along the shores of Lake Superior. Mountains of slag, the waste left after the melting of ores, were produced by the steel mills. The slag could be put to good use by combining it with limestone to produce Portland cement. A large deposit of limestone existed near Rogers City, MI on Lake Huron, but no natural harbor was to be found in the area. Carl Bradley led the effort to build an artificial harbor and extract the limestone, and soon the Bradley Transportation Company, a U.S. Steel subsidiary, was shipping limestone from the quarry in large freighters.
Utilizing steel slag from the Illinois Steel Company's mills in South Chicago and limestone from Rogers City, the Cement Department of the Illinois Steel Company, a subsidiary of U.S. Steel, opened its No. 3 Mill, known as the Buffington Plant, in November of 1904. The firm’s previous two mills were operating in Chicago and South Chicago. Due to a continual rise in demand for cement, work on the No. 4 Mill, also located at Buffington, was begun in 1906. To focus on the market for Portland cement, the Cement Department of the Illinois Steel Company, was spun off as a separate company, the Universal Portland Cement Company. A third mill, Mill No. 6, was completed at the site in 1912, and the Buffington plant became the world’s largest with an output of 23,000 barrels of cement each day.
To facilitate the transportation of goods to and from the plant, a 55-acre harbor basin was built at the cost of 3 million dollars. On June 10, 1927, Buffington Harbor, then the deepest and most modern port on Lake Michigan, opened with much fanfare. On hand for the event, was Charles G. Dawes, Vice-President of the United States, who raised a U.S. and a Buffington Harbor flag to officially open the port. Two freighters, the E.J. Buffington and the T.W. Robinson, named respectively for the president and vice-president of the Illinois Steel Company, were also in the harbor that day. The freighters could tie up at an 1,800-foot dock, and then offload their cargo into the storage yard with the assistance of a traveling bridge carrying a 10-ton bucket. An electric conveyor nearly a mile long carried material from the dock to the plant at a rate of six tons a minute.
Buffington Harbor is protected on the west by a 2,000-foot pier, while a 1,200-foot breakwater extends east from the end of the pier. At the extremity of the breakwater is Buffington light, built appropriately of concrete and visible for thirteen miles. The lighthouse has a focal plane of forty-eight feet and exhibits a red light.
In 1930, the Universal Portland Cement Company and Atlas Cement Companies merged to become the Universal Atlas Cement Company. The 1930’s, the depression years, were hard on the cement industry, as demand fell by nearly a third. In 1980, Lehigh Cement Company purchased the Universal Atlas Cement Division of U.S. Steel, and the Buffington Plant was included in that deal. In 1995, one-third of the Buffington property was sold to entrepreneurs, Donald Trump and Donald Barden, for $13.5 million. The two placed a pair of gambling boats, the Majestic Star and Trump Casino in the harbor. Lehigh Cement sold the remaining portion of its Buffington Plant on September 14, 2000 to the City of Gary for $25 million. The majority of the property has been transferred to Gary New Century, a private development company that plans to build a residential, retail, and recreational complex on the site of the cement plant.
Location: Located at the end of a private breakwater in Buffington Harbor.
Latitude: 41.64605
Longitude: -87.41032
Travel Instructions: The Buffington Harbor Lighthouse is best seen from the water, but a distant view is also possible from the gambling boat in Buffington Harbor, the Majestic Star . We visited this light with Coho Magic Charters out of Robert A. Pastrick Marina in East Chicago, IN.
The lighthouse is owned by the City of Gary. Tower closed.
Indiana Harbor East Breakwater, IN
Description: According to the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, the southern boundary of the state of Michigan should have been a line drawn from the southern tip of Lake Michigan east to Lake Erie. Unfortunately, the maps of that day showed Lake Michigan a little further north than it really is, and as a result the line drawn from the southern end of Lake Michigan to Lake Erie put Toledo and the mouth of the Maumee River in Ohio. When this error was discovered, the “Toledo War” erupted as Michigan declared its intention to take Toledo. Congress stepped in to resolve the conflict and awarded the Upper Peninsula to Michigan, if it would renounce its claim on Toledo. Accordingly, Michigan’s southern border was shifted north from the southern tip of Lake Michigan, and as a result Indiana gained several miles of valuable lakefront property.
This proved quite fortunate for Indiana, as during the early 1900s this shoreline became the site of major industrial development. Several industries were established in the area to reap the benefits of access to the Great Lakes, multiple railroads, and the rapidly growing city of Chicago.
On March 26th 1901, Inland Steel Company accepted an offer by Lake Michigan Land Company of fifty acres of free dune land near East Chicago along with a promise that a harbor and railroad would be built at the site, if Inland Steel would agree to construct a steel plant there that would cost no less than one million dollars. Inland Steel divested itself of Inland Iron and Forge Company for $500,000, and then raised another $500,000 to fund the project.
During 1901 and 1902, Indiana Harbor was dredged and a breakwater constructed. In 1903, work began on a canal that would eventually lead from Indiana Harbor inland to both the Grand Calumet River and Lake George. Over the next several years, numerous industries were established along the waterway. In 1917, Mark Manufacturing built its East Chicago mill on the west side of Indiana Harbor (Inland Steel was located on the eastern side of the harbor). Clayton Mark, the namesake owner of the company, built a company housing community near the mill, and not surprisingly named it Marktown. Soon Marktown was an oasis amidst all the industry, as a tin mill, rolling mill, and a refinery were also built nearby. For an interesting series of aerial views showing the development of Indiana Harbor around Marktown, click here.
In 1914, the federal government assumed responsibility for Indiana Harbor and the canal. It appears that the first lighthouse was constructed in the harbor in 1920. However, the tower that guides freighters into the harbor today was added in 1935, and is a twin to the structure placed on the Port Washington, Wisconsin breakwater the same year. Originally, a fourth-order Fresnel lens was used in the lighthouse, producing a white flash of one second duration every 7.5 seconds from a focal plan of 78 feet. Today, a modern green beacon sits atop the art deco tower sending out a signature of three seconds on followed by three seconds off.
Foreign competition has taken its toll on the industry surrounding Indiana Harbor, but although the names of the mills have changed over the years, a significant amount of steel continues to be produced there. The heavy industry in the area has polluted the canal and harbor, but in 2001 plans for the dredging and cleanup of the waterway were being made, using as a model the successful project carried out on the contaminated Cuyahoga River in Cleveland.
Location: Located at the end of an industrial breakwater in Indiana Harbor.
Latitude: 41.68085
Longitude: -87.44111
Travel Instructions: Due to the private, industrial area surrounding the breakwater, the Indiana Harbor Lighthouse is best seen from the water. We visited this light with Coho Magic Charters out of Robert A. Pastrick Marina in East Chicago, IN.
The lighthouse is owned by the Coast Guard. Tower closed.
Calumet Harbor, IN
Description: The plain, modern lights that mark Calumet Harbor today reveal little about Calumet’s earlier lighthouses and the colorful personalities that staffed them. The first light was established built in 1853 at a cost of $4,500 using stone quarried in Blue Island and transported down the Little Calumet and Calumet River by barge. A.G. Golton served as the first keeper. However, ship captains heading for the Chicago River were confused by the new light, and due to numerous protests, the light was extinguished on July 28, 1855. The lighthouse was sold at auction for $125, but in 1870 the government wanted to reactivate the light and had to buy it back for $10,000. The light shone again from the shore for three years, until it was replaced by a pier light. As the harbor works were improved, this light was moved in 1884 and rebuilt in 1898. This mural shows both the 1853 lighthouse and pierhead light.
Mary M. Ryan is the most notorious keeper of the Calumet Lighthouse. Following the death of her husband, she assumed responsibilities for the light on August 10, 1873. Mary Ryan remained at the post for over seven years, which given the following sampling of her log entries, might have felt like an eternity. Dec. 4, 1873 Wind so bad, I think it will blow the tower over.
Dec. 25, 1873 I was supposed to have been informed when this light would be discontinued, not a vessel since the 15th of Nov. and nothing to light for and this is such a dreary place to be all alone in.
April 7, 1874 So dull, in this place it is killing me. Wind blowing violently.
April 15, 1874 Oh, for a home in the sunny south, such a climate.
April 16, 1874 Such a time, everyone is in despaired think summer is never coming.
May 1, 1874 So cold, mayday, those people who goes for flowers will be disappointed.
May 2, 1874 Nothing but gloom without and WITH IN.
Oct. 31, 1874 The promise of a cold hard winter as old signs goes, so many out of employment at this early season, and what will it before winter is over? God “only knows.”
May 31, 1874 So dull in South Chicago. This place is growin down all the time.
April 22, 1880 I think some changes will have to be made this is not a fit place for anyone to live in.
July 31, 1880 This has been the most trying month of my keeping a light house, the most important question, can anything worse come?
Aug. 28, 1880 The light house Engineers never do anything for me.
Aug. 30, 1880 Oh what a place.
Oct. 1, 1880 The news is that the light will soon go from me forever.
Nov. 1, 1880 This is all gloom and darkness.
Mary Ryan’s final day on the job was November 6, 1880. A new keeper, with a new outlook on things took over shortly thereafter. Nov. 13, 1880 Commence the duties of light keeper. The sun set behind a bank of dark clouds, yet it is not gloomy for the poets and our good sense teach us that there is a Silver Lining beyond.
In 1899, the construction of a breakwater to create an artificial harbor at the entrance to the Calumet River was authorized. Starting from a point roughly a half mile north of the river’s entrance, a breakwater was extended out into the lake. The breakwater is formed of timber cribs capped by concrete, and projects east into the lake for about 4,000 feet before bending to the southeast. At the end of this 6,714-foot breakwater, work on a lighthouse began in 1905. The stout, rectangular structure originally consisted of two full stories, topped by a pitched roof, with a cylindrical tower extending above the roof at one end. Later, the pitched roof was removed, and the tower stood alone atop the boxy building.
For several years, both the pierhead and outer breakwater lighthouses were active and maintained by keepers in season. A lifesaving station was located on the Calumet River, and one of the station’s lookout towers was positioned near the pierhead lighthouse. When the surfman stationed at the lookout saw the flag at the outer breakwater lighthouse flying at half mast, he knew the keepers required assistance. Thanks to the lifesaving station logs, several instances of the keepers lowering their flag to signal the lookout tower were recorded, including the following one.
Early on the morning of April 16th 1921, the surfman on lookout noticed the distress signal was being flown at the outer breakwater lighthouse. A gale wind was blowing, the seas were very high, and the temperature was just above freezing. As the lifesaving station’s lifeboat was out of commission, a rescue team was forced to request that the M.B. Mary tow their surfboat to the lighthouse. Accompanied by two keepers of the pierhead lighthouse (James Muckiam and Joseph Gramm), the crew rowed the surfboat the final few yards up to the lee side of the lighthouse.
The lifesaving keeper recorded that “the windows of the lighthouse were broken in. The floors flooded. The building shifted about two feet, breakwater going to pieces around it and other places.” Still, the keepers refused to leave the lighthouse. They did, however, request that the lighthouse superintendent be informed of their situation. After returning to shore, the lifesaving keeper telegraphed the superintendent, who gave his permission for the keepers to be removed from the lighthouse if their lives were endangered. The lifesaving keeper judged the lighthouse keepers’ situation to be quite grave, and they were accordingly brought ashore with the assistance of a tugboat.
The mouth of the Calumet River and the surrounding land all lie within the state of Illinois, however due to the length of the breakwater, the breakwater lighthouse was actually just east of the Illinois-Indiana State Line, which runs north-south. Since the lengthy breakwater is exposed to the full force of northern storms that can sweep the length of Lake Michigan, over 12,000 tons of rip rap were placed along it in 1930 for protection.
Armand Seguin was stationed at the lighthouse in 1961-1962. During his service, the lighthouse was generally staffed by two Coast Guardsmen who spent four days at the lighthouse followed by two days off. Seguin remembers that there were two bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, and an office/living room on the upper level, while the lower level housed the furnace, a water tank, and the air compressor for the fog signal.
The US Steel South Chicago works provided electricity to the lighthouse for free via a submarine cable. The only catch was that it was AC at 25Hz. This meant that the lights flickered, and while a motor/generator was used to convert the electricity into a standard 110V and 60Hz signal for powering a television, the picture would periodically get off sync.
Inspectors from Chicago visited the station and found that the well water was contaminated. When Sequin inquired how bad it was, the inspector replied "Well, you might take a bath in it, but don't get it anyplace by your face! And, boil it like mad before you cook with it." From then on, the Coast Guardsmen had to haul their own drinking water out to the lighthouse.
A second detached breakwater with a length of 5,007 feet was built to provide further protection for the harbor. A small gap, which provides a direct route to the river from the lake, separates the two breakwaters. A good recent view of the Calumet River and Harbor can be seen in this photograph. In 1995, the two-story, breakwater lighthouse was demolished over a period of 22 days. In its place, stands a white cylindrical tower marked with a red band, as seen in the bottom photo to the left. The nearby end of the detached breakwater is marked by a similar tower with a green band. The steel tower standing on four cylinders shown in the top two photographs marks the other end of the detached breakwater.
Location: Located at the end of a 6,714-foot-long breakwater that extends from the mouth of the Calumet River into Lake Michigan.
Latitude: 41.72604
Longitude: -87.49336
Travel Instructions: This lighthouse can be seen distantly from Calumet Park but is best seen from the water. To reach the park, take Exit 62 from I-94 South of Chicago and go east for five miles on 95th Street (Highway 12/20) to the park. We visited this light with Coho Magic Charters out of Robert A. Pastrick Marina in East Chicago, IN.
The lighthouse is owned by the Coast Guard. Tower closed.
Michigan City East Pierhead, IN
Description: In May of 2007, the Michigan City East Pierhead Lighthouse, deemed excess by the Coast Guard, was offered at no cost to eligible entities, including federal, state and local agencies, non-profit corporations, educational agencies, or community development organizations. According to Mayor Chuck Oberlie, Michigan City filed a letter of interest for the lighthouse and will seek ownership.
Location: Located at the end of the breakwater forming the harbor in Michigan City.
Latitude: 41.72899
Longitude: -86.91172
Travel Instructions: From Interstate 94, take Highway 35 into Michigan City. Where Highway 35 intersects Highway 12, turn left on Highway 12 then right on Pine Street. Pine Street will become Franklin Street after two blocks, which will lead you over a bridge to Lakeshore Drive. Turn right onto Lakeshore Drive and take the first left. Follow this road west to the marina, from where you can walk the pier to the light.
The lighthouse is owned by the Coast Guard. Tower closed.
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