South Bass Island Light, South Bass Island Ohio

Date added: August 10, 2024

Categories:
Ohio
Lighthouse

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From 1897 until 1963, the South Bass Island Light marked Parker's Point, the southwest tip of South Bass Island, the largest of the three Bass islands (North, Middle, and South). The Queen Anne-style red brick light tower with an attached keeper's dwelling was built at the height of the island's popularity as a summer resort. A fixed red light (in 1926, its characteristic was changed to alternately flashing white and red) guided vessels through the South Passage around the Lake Erie Islands. In 1963, the South Bass Island Light was removed from service. It was superseded by an automated light mounted on a steel skeleton tower erected southeast of the old lighthouse. In 1967, the Federal Government transferred the two-acre lighthouse reservation to the Board of Trustees of Ohio State University, which operates a biological research laboratory on the island and uses the lighthouse as a residence for faculty. The property consists of the brick light tower and attached keeper's dwelling (1897), a former barn and chicken house (1899) now used as a garage, and an oil storage house (1899).

Site Description

The South Bass Island Light is located on Parker's Point at the southwest tip of South Bass Island in the western part of Lake Erie. The historic light station consists of three structures: a square brick light tower and an attached two-story brick keeper's dwelling, a wood-frame barn and chicken house, and an iron oil storage house. A white steel skeleton tower stands about 50 feet southeast of the historic light station.

Light Tower and Attached Keeper's Dwelling. Founded on bedrock, the South Bass Island Light consists of a square light tower and an attached two-story keeper's dwelling. It is Queen Anne in style. Both the tower and dwelling are of red brick laid in Flemish bond, with a brick foundation and cut stone water table. Double-hung windows, with 1/1 lights, have plain lug sills and brick voussoirs. The light tower, located at the southwest corner of the dwelling, is 10 feet square and 45 feet high (measured from the base to the ventilator ball of the lantern), with a focal plane height of 60.5 feet. The tower has a decorative brick cornice. Its entrance is separate from, and adjacent to, that of the dwelling. Inside, an iron circular stairway with two landings leads to the lantern. The 10-sided cast-iron lantern, 7 feet in diameter, features vertical bars glazed to a height of 36 inches. The lantern, originally painted black, was designed to display a 4th-order Fresnel lens, which has since been removed. Atop the lantern roof, of cast iron lined with zinc, is a cast-iron ventilator ball with platinum lightning-conductor spindle. Surrounding the lantern is a cast-iron gallery, 12 feet square, with a square iron balustrade. The lantern, gallery, and stairway came from the Gibraltar, Michigan, Light, according to property records. (The original plans for the lighthouse show an octagonal lantern.) The attached dwelling, 39 feet by 30 feet, has a side hall plan with six rooms (parlor, dining room, kitchen/pantry downstairs; three bedrooms and bath upstairs) and a full basement and attic. It has multiple gable roofs with asphalt shingles. The north and south gable ends feature three-part round-arch windows with brick voussoirs; a gabled bay projecting to the east has a smaller, two-part round-arch window. Box gutters and gable returns, shown in the original plans, apparently have been removed. Drawings show that hipped-roof verandas with spindle friezes and railings originally spanned the front and rear of the dwelling; these have been replaced by enclosed porches. The front porch, rebuilt in 1945, has brick piers and jalousie door and windows. Front and back, there are concrete steps in place of the original wooden steps. House trim, originally "lead color," is now painted white.

Barn and Chicken House. A concrete walk leads from the rear of the dwelling to a former barn and chicken house, now remodeled as a garage. Erected in 1899, the wood-frame structure has a concrete foundation and an intersecting gable roof with exposed rafter ends. The ground floor, originally painted "lead color," has board and batten siding; the upper story, originally painted dark red, has wood shingles. The barn is now painted white. There are two shed-roof additions to the east. Overhead garage doors were added later.

Oil House. The square iron oil house, originally painted red and located 18.5 feet west of the light tower, was also erected in 1899. The small pyramidal-roof storage building, of riveted boiler-plate construction, is now painted white and located northeast of the former barn.