Keepers of the Lights: Lighthouse Keepers & Their Families : Door County, Wisconsin, 1837-1939

by Steven Karges

ROCK, PLUM, PILOT, BAILEY HARBOR, CANA ISLAND, OSCAR H. KNUDSON, EAGLE BLUFF LIGHT, 7 SONS OF WILLIAM DUCLON, CHAMBERS ISLAND , DUNLAP REEF, NORTH PIER LIGHT, STURGEON BAY CANAL, JOHN TRUCKER, SHERWOOD POINT

369 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2000

Reviews

[Mindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't something you pick up for "fun" reading. This is a very thorough writing about Door County, Wisconsin, Lighthouses that I read because my great grandfather's brother Conrad Stram was a lighthouse keeper. I wanted to learn more about him and I did.
There are very specific things about the different lighthouses and property, but what I enjoyed most was learning about the keepers and their families.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Through a considerable amount of research from the historical records of the Door County Advocate and various other local sources, Karges weaves together an anthology of what life might have been like during the time that the keepers manned the lights, fed the fog horn turbine fires, wound the flashing light mechanisms and somewhere along the way managed to raise a family, tend to the gardens and assure that the stations were in tip-top shape just in case they were paid a surprise visit by the Lighthouse Board. Karges follows each keeper’s travel from light-to-light and includes some of the other islanders that have become folk legends themselves like the Jessens, Cornells, Knutsons, and Cochems. He’s also interspersed some remarkable pictures to give you an idea of what the lights looked like while the keepers were tending their watch. Each light has its own chapter and after reading the book you’re bound to take it with you on your next trip to DC to locate the structures that have since succumbed to nature or were taken down when the lights became unmanned.

[Cherie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this in preparation for a trip to Washington and Rock Islands. It had great research and I will know a bit about the history of the lighthouses. Not a book I would have just picked up to read, but I'm glad I did.