October 24, 1856
In the northern part of Lake Superior in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula region, Mark Petty arrived at Rock Harbor at Isle Royale to serve as the first keeper of a newly completed lighthouse there. He was accompanied by his brother Michael, who would serve as Rock Harbor Lighthouse’s first assistant keeper. This lighthouse was officially inaugurated not long after both brothers had made their way to the island.
In response to increased shipping in that area of the Great Lakes, Congress appropriated $5,000 in 1853 for the construction of a lighthouse at Rock Harbor. Work on this navigational aid began in 1855.
As it turned out, the Petty brothers’ time at Rock Harbor Lighthouse was decidedly brief. Michael died on July 16, 1857, and Mark resigned from lighthouse service shortly thereafter. Francis and William Bomassa, another pair of brothers, then took charge of Rock Harbor Lighthouse. William, ultimately realizing that he was not cut out for lighthouse duties at such a comparatively remote location, ended up resigning from his position on September 8, 1858. Francis remained at Rock Harbor Lighthouse as its sole keeper. With the now-steady decline of maritime traffic in the vicinity of Rock Harbor, however, his remaining tenure at the lighthouse did not last all that long. On August 1, 1859, the lighthouse was shut down.
Another chapter for Rock Harbor Lighthouse, though, opened more than a decade later due to the growth of copper mining and related shipping in the area. To accommodate this development, the lighthouse was reactivated on August 5, 1874. At this point in time, Anthony Kruger served as Rock Harbor Lighthouse’s acting keeper. He continued in this role until October 23, 1875, when Ferdinand Dumont took charge of the lighthouse.
As a result of both the eventual decline in demand for copper and the 1875 debut of Isle Royale Light on nearby Menagerie Island, Rock Harbor Lighthouse was once more existing on borrowed time. On October 4, 1879, Rock Harbor Lighthouse was illuminated for a final time by then-keeper Martin R. Benson.
Notwithstanding the fact that it was in operation for a grand total of only about eight years, Rock Harbor Lighthouse remains a popular and frequently visited landmark in that part of the world. This 50-foot (15-meter)-tall structure has been extensively renovated and stabilized over time and, in 1977, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Photo Credit: Ray Dumas (https://www.flickr.com/photos/rtdphotography/) – licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en
For more information on Rock Harbor Lighthouse, please check out http://www.terrypepper.com/lights/superior/rock-harbor/index.htm
Transportation History 
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