What’s it like to spend a week in a historic Door County island lighthouse? Reporter shares her experience.
ROCK ISLAND — "Sure!" I said when asked by a group of friends to serve as a volunteer docent (or tour guide) with them at the Rock Island State Park lighthouse.
One of the perks of the unpaid position includes living in the house, built in 1858, for the week you are there.
No electricity, no indoor plumbing — or bathrooms.
The uniqueness of living and sleeping on a nearly empty island was hard to resist. Here's what the experience was like.
Serving as lighthouse docent is often highly desired.
"Lighthouse docent" can be a coveted position, and you must apply for it.
My friend Jude waited five years to be chosen to docent her first go-round in 2017. Her stellar performance likely helped us earn our place this year.
Jude and I were joined by our newcomer friends Amy and Ginnie. We had to give the Friends of Rock Island Board members three preferred weeks, and in spring we were assigned Sept. 10-17.
It takes two ferry rides to get to Rock Island.
For those unfamiliar with Rock Island, the park is off the northern tip of Door County, on the north side of Washington Island, near St. Martin Island and the Garden Peninsula of Upper Michigan. It takes two ferry rides to get there, and there are no cars or transportation on the island.
Jude and I were on the 10 a.m. open-top on a rainy Sunday, Sept. 10, with all our gear and food. We arrived a day before Ginnie and a few days before Amy.
We slept on the actual antique beds in the lighthouse rooms, using our own sleeping bags and pillows after removing quilts used for show.
The Friends of Rock Island State Park (or FORI) supplies a propane stove and fridge in the “summer kitchen” portion of the lighthouse, where the entryway and gift shop are located.
I brought mostly canned soup, fruit, breakfast bars and dehydrated meals typically used for camping (just add hot water!) for meals.
It was rustic, a bit like camping, but no one went hungry.
The week included leading tours and completing chores.
A Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources ranger drove us the mile-and-a-half or so from the dock to the lighthouse on a UTV.
Jude and I met with the previous docents, who would head back on the noon ferry. We would do the same for our replacements the following Sunday.
We learned how to keep track of merch sales, got tips on ways to lead tours and a list of our chores for the week.
Because of the pouring rain, Jude and I only had four visitors to the lighthouse that first day.
Fewer visitors allowed for more detailed tours.
We agreed this week was pretty ideal, as the weather was cooler for sleeping than it would be in July or August and fewer families were on vacation.
As the beginning of the week was rainy and traffic slower, we could give detailed tours to our visitors.
During the free, guided tours, we told the history of the island and lighthouse. I learned a lot myself.
The history of the Pottawatomie Lighthouse dates to 1836.
The original Pottawatomie Lighthouse was built in 1836. When it crumbled because of poor building materials, the current structure was built in 1858.
The original building was the oldest lighthouse in Wisconsin and the third oldest on the Great Lakes.
I learned a ton about an interesting character, Chester Thordarson, an inventor who could have been as well known as Thomas Edison or Henry Ford (who supposedly visited him on Rock Island) and was a bit eccentric.
Thordarson owned an electric company in Chicago, but yearned for quiet contemplation in nature. He bought 800 acres of the island in 1910 when prices were cheap as fishermen moved south to Washington Island. He planned to build a grand home for his wife, a hotel and a retreat on Rock. He built the magnificent stone boathouse on the island, several smaller buildings and Asian-inspired garden pieces and a pagoda-inspired shelter.
Sadly, Chester died in 1945 before completing his vision. The DNR bought the property from Chester’s heirs in 1965 and developed the park.
We talked through all of this with our visitors as we took them through the lighthouse, which sat empty from 1946 (when lights were automated and full-time keepers weren’t needed) until the mid-1990s, when FORI was born and funding was raised for extensive renovations. They interpreted the home to the year 1910, and none of the furniture (other than an upstairs stove) is original.
Living life by the light of the sun.
People are surprised we slept in the house and on the beds within the rooms. We learned to live our days with the mid-September sun.
By the time we finished sweeping, balancing our till, taking down the flag and going for a hike, it was getting dark, and we ate by the light of camping lanterns (no candles allowed in an old, precious building).
We tried to read or knit by lantern-light, but it was challenging, so often we chatted until it was time for bed.
We used a very clean portable bathroom to do our business throughout the week, but there was no place to shower — unless you were brave enough to take a dip in Lake Michigan.
There was a well for drinkable water and a battery in the bathroom to charge our phones.
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I slept well most nights. It’s hard to describe how dark and quiet it is on an island with just a handful of others. You lose your connection to the outside world and learn you can live without checking Facebook every day. You slow down and have deeper conversations around a campfire.
In the morning, we hid our bedding and bags out of sight and got ready to greet visitors.
We met many folks from the Madison area as well as groups from Tuscan, Texas, and one couple from Israel.
On Thursday, we took a class of 26 fourth-graders who were camping on the island for two days (brave teachers!) through the lighthouse.
By Sept. 17, I was ready for a long, hot shower and to turn on every light in my home! But we are all excited to apply to be docents again in 2024.
A living lesson on Wisconsin's maritime history.
Through this volunteer experience, as well as my volunteer work as part of Friends of Plum and Pilot Islands, I have learned a ton about Wisconsin’s maritime history.
I find it so interesting to learn about the colorful characters who lived and worked in these places, what brought them here and how their achievements paved the way for Great Lakes commerce.
Given the critical role water played in Wisconsin’s growth and development, I wonder why I didn’t learn more of these stories in school. I think it’s critical we save these old buildings and lighthouses, some of which likely guided our ancestors to the new land.
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I’m glad I have learned about it now, and can help both in preserving this history and telling others about it.
And I can’t wait to be a Rock Island Lighthouse docent again! Maybe I’ll see you there!
Contact reporter Patti Zarling at [email protected] or 920-606-2575. Follow her on Twitter @PGPattiZarling.
This article originally appeared on Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Life in Pottawatomie Lighthouse on Rock Island, Door County, Wisconsin
