{"nrhp_refnum":"69000148","name":"Marblehead Lighthouse","other_names":["Sandusky Bay Lighthouse"],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"OH 163","address_restricted":false,"city":"Marblehead","county":"Ottawa County","state":"OH","lat":41.53638600200003,"lon":-82.71160708199994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1969-12-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Transportation"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A cone-shaped stone lighthouse on State Route 163 in Marblehead, Ottawa County, Ohio, built beginning in 1821 at the entrance to Sandusky Bay. It is also known as the Sandusky Bay Lighthouse.","why_significant":"It was the second lighthouse built on the Great Lakes and is described as the oldest in continuous operation there. Congress authorized it in 1820, and the site was chosen because it overlooks the entrance to Sandusky Bay. The nomination rates its significance as local.","narrative":"Marblehead Lighthouse is a lime-white, cone-shaped stone tower on State Route 163 in Marblehead, Ohio, marking the entrance to Sandusky Bay. It stands 55 feet high, measures 25 feet across at the base and 12 feet at the top, and has walls five feet thick at the bottom. Congress authorized the lighthouse in 1820 and construction began in 1821. Stephen Pleasonton, General Superintendent of Lights in the Treasury Department, chose the site because it overlooks the bay entrance. Stephen Woolverton held the contract and sublet the work to William Kelley, who had come to Ohio from New York in 1818. It was the second lighthouse built on the Great Lakes and is described as the oldest in continuous operation there. The tower remains much as first built, apart from a few feet added at the top to hold an improved lighting system. The U.S. Coast Guard owned it at the time of listing, and the nomination rated its significance as local.","period_of_significance":"19th Century (specific date 1821)","architect_builder":"Contractor Stephen Woolverton, who sublet construction to William Kelley; site selected by Stephen Pleasonton, General Superintendent of Lights","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition marked good, altered (a few feet added at the top for improved lighting), original site; owned by the U.S. Coast Guard and described as in continuous operation. Later letters describe the adjacent keeper's house as unoccupied since the early 1960s.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:09.114132-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/69000148.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/69000148/9abfa06029-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/69000148/9abfa06029-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 2.0","author":"James St. John","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fossiliferous_limestones_(Marblehead_Member,_Columbus_Limestone,_Middle_Devonian;_lakehore_outcrop_near_Marblehead_Lighthouse,_Ottawa_County,_Ohio,_USA)_3_(48401296487).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">James St. John</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fossiliferous_limestones_(Marblehead_Member,_Columbus_Limestone,_Middle_Devonian;_lakehore_outcrop_near_Marblehead_Lighthouse,_Ottawa_County,_Ohio,_USA)_3_(48401296487).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71990843","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marblehead_Light_(Ohio)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6755249"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/ottawa-county/marblehead-lighthouse-69000148/"}