Raspberry Island Reopened to the Public
By Sue Clark on Jun 29, 2007 in News 
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Steven Huyser-Honig, on his lovely blog Lighthouses Forever, beat me to the punch with the story of the reopening to the public of Raspberry Island Lighthouse. Check it out, it’s a nice article.
About two years ago, I received an email from Terry Pepper, of Seeing the Lights, letting us know the National Park Service was preparing to abandon all care of the lighthouses in the Apostle Islands. Through an email campaign, comments were sent decrying the loss of these national monuments. It worked, and now Raspberry Island has been restored.
In the story referenced by Steven, the Ashland Daily Press spoke with Geraldine Anderson, 66, of Eben Junction, Michigan, who will be one of the new caretakers at the light, doing a ten day stretch at a time, with four days off in between. Driving 250 miles one way, she’s looking forward to the job, according to the story, as a new chapter in her life. I could not help but chuckle at a story I read, called “I Hate Lighthouses,” told in 1931 to a reporter, Stella Champney, by Cecelia Carson MacLean, wife of a Raspberry Island lightkeeper and sister to another.
“I hate lighthouses,” said Mrs. Alexander McLean, whose husband kept the light on Raspberry Island for several years. “They are so lonely. Going from one island to another, out in the Apostles group, isn’t much fun, especially when you have to go in a small boat and maybe get caught in a storm. We left Raspberry Island in 1916, and I was glad enough to see the last of it.
“When a woman marries a lighthouse keeper, she gives up everything else in the world. If I had my life to live over again, it would not be in lighthouse stations.”
Check out the rest of the Apostle Island Scrapbook when you get a chance. It’s some great reading.
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