Site History
South Bass Island is located in the Bass Island region in the western basin of Lake Erie. Lake Erie was the last of the Great Lakes to be explored by Europeans during the 1600s. French explorer, René de la Salle, landed on Middle Bass Island in 1679 and Louis Jolliet, the French-Canadian trader and explorer, traversed the area in 1699. At the conclusion of the Revolutionary War, the area became part of the Connecticut Reserve. By 1795, the Bass Islands were transferred to the Connecticut Land Company and parcels were offered for sale.

Pierpont Edwards purchased South Bass, Middle Bass, Green, Sugar, Ballast, Gibraltar, and Starve Islands for $26,087 in 1807. The Island was militarily significant during the war of 1812 and particularly the Battle of Lake Erie on September 10, 1813. After the War of 1812 Edwards' representatives quickly settled and began developing South Bass Island. Timber, limestone, and cordwood proved valuable resources and were transported to the mainland to be sold. Known as the South Passage, this navigational route (between Marblehead, Kelleys, and South Bass) quickly became crowded with commercial boat traffic.

On August 22, 1854, the Edwards family sold the land to José de Rivera Saint Jurgo for $44,000. He cultivated the land for wine production. As the reputation of the local wines grew, so did the number of visitors. An estimated 15,000 people visited South Bass Island in 1859. The height of the island's popularity was reached in the 1890s and was marked by the opening of the Hotel Victory in 1892. Following that event, the South Passage became increasingly congested with public passenger and private leisure vessels.

Soon thereafter, problems associated with increased boat traffic in the South Passage were brought to the attention of the U.S. Lighthouse Board. On February 15, 1893, the Board approved construction of a lighthouse and appropriated $8,000 for the project. The federal government purchased the lighthouse site (on the extreme southwest shore of the island) from Mary and Alfred Parker on May 18, 1895.

Construction
Lighthouse construction was under the direction of the U.S. Engineering Department and was supervised by J.P. Bumpus of Albton, N.Y., the superintendent of the Tenth Lighthouse District. In contrast to the stereotypical lighthouse with a huge tower and small detached keepers quarters, South Bass Island Lighthouse contained two and one half stories of living space, a full basement, and an attached tower. The Queen Anne style home had many modern amenities including a laundry room, kitchen range, hot water reservoir, furnace, cistern, and hydraulic force pump. The 60-foot tower was fitted with a fourth order $1,500 Frensel lens. The light was first lit on July 10, 1897. The lighthouse, which contained no fog signal, operated daily from early March through late December. The red brick structure was laid in Flemish bond.

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