

My parents joke that they pay to volunteer to work although only part of their day is occupied by the enjoyable lighthouse keeper duties. Public interest in Split Rock continued to grow. One of the lighthouse keepers’ duties is raising and lowering the flag. In 1935 a new access road to the station was built, and in 1942 a gift shop opened. To handle the growing demand, visiting hours were established and a safety fence was erected along the cliff's edge. The Lighthouse Service required the keepers to escort any visitor to the lighthouse. Lightkeepers were divided into two grades Principal Lightkeeper and Assistant Lightkeeper. This gave Split Rock Lighthouse five times as many visitors as any other station in the service. By 1938, Keeper Franklin Covell estimated nearly 100,000 visitors to the site. By the early 1930s about 5,000 people visited the lighthouse each year. The keepers and their families weren’t the only ones to take advantage of the new roadway. By the 1930s, the keepers and their families lived at the station year-round, the children boarding buses for school in Beaver Bay and Two Harbors and supplies arriving more steadily by road. The Lake Superior International Highway was built near the lighthouse in 1924, finally making the lighthouse accessible by land. An extended spur of the rail system allowed the keepers to push the carload of supplies right to the oil house and storage barns where the supplies were stored until used. What were the duties of the lighthouse keepers Before the days of electricity, they had to light the lamp at sunset and extinguish it (put it out) at sunrise. The elevated railway, completed in 1916, hauled supplies on a flat car up the hill from the dock where the tenders were moored. In 1915, the Lighthouse Service began construction on a tramway at the southern end of the station. Lighthouse Summer Job Porphyry island lighthouse Trowbridge experience. had been derelict in his duties, responded : I think the keepers of lighthouses. They needed a new method that didn't require calm weather, a rarity on stormy Lake Superior. Lighthouse keepers and their families had been part of the American.

However, delays due to wind and waves made it hard for the tenders to use the hoist and derrick system without causing further delay to their schedules. The Light-keepers shall keep a regular and constant Watch in the Light-room throughout the night.

Lighthouse Service had a long history of supplying remote stations.Īt Split Rock, they adapted the steam-powered hoist and derrick used for raising construction supplies and instead used it to hoist freight from the tenders, or supply boats. Your duties as a guest keeper are to greet and act as docents informing the visiting public as to the history of the lighthouse and other attractions at the. Further assessment may be necessary if you’re contacted.Although the station was one of the most isolated on the Great Lakes when it was commissioned in 1910, the U.S. Applicants would also need experience in operating some mechanical and electrical equipment like generators and power tools.Īs an assistant lightkeeper, your duties would include reporting weather conditions, relaying radio messages, grounds maintenance of the station you’re placed in, dipping diesel fuel tanks from on top of a ladder, helping to refuel domestic diesel tanks, dipping cisterns of rainwater collection, scraping and painting buildings and other areas, and testing fire pump and hoses as well as checking fire extinguishers.įisheries and Oceans Canada states that applying doesn’t necessarily mean applying for a specific job but to an inventory for future vacancies. Requirements to apply to be a lighthouse keeper are pretty standard, aside from needing a valid Restricted Operators certificate or higher. The job in question is assistant lightkeeper, and it is offered through Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Canadian Coast Guard. I - The Keepers of the Bell Rock Light-house are. If you’ve ever dreamed of being a lighthouse keeper, the Government of Canada is hiring for just the job for qualified Canadian residents. (plus Daily Allowance of Rations for Light-keepers working in the service of the Bell Rock Lighthouse).
