When you visit the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore and Friends board member Neil Howk is your guide, you’re in for a treat. As a retired park ranger specializing in telling the stories of the islands, Neil has a special way of immersing park visitors in the rich history and natural beauty in the park. This summer, Neil volunteered at the Raspberry Island light. During the coming weeks, we’ll share some of Neil’s experiences, observations and interactions with park visitors. We’ll start with a tour of both sides of the lighthouse and a look at what National Park Service volunteers do while they’re on duty.

I served as a volunteer lighthouse keeper at the Raspberry Island Light Station for nine days in early August this summer. My duties included: greeting visitors, monitoring day and overnight boat use of the island’s dock and anchorages, mowing the grass, helping tend the garden, patroling the trails, sweeping and restocking the vault toilets, waving at the cruise boat, cleaning the lighthouse and quarters, and leading tours through the lighthouse.

Neil mowing the lawn

After the lighthouse was completely restored in 2005-2006, the half of the house used by the head lighthouse keeper was refurnished to appear as it did in the early 1920s. This is the “museum” part of the house that visitors experience during a lighthouse tour to learn what life was like for the keepers working on the island at that time. The other half of the lighthouse was converted into quarters for the park staff that station the island from mid-June to early September. I thought it might be interesting to compare what life was like for the keepers at Raspberry Island one hundred years ago with the conditions that today’s “keepers” enjoy.

Kitchen
2024 – The hot and cold running water in the sink comes from the island’s well. The gas stove includes four burners and a small oven. A gas space heater warms the room and a gas-powered refrigerator keeps our food fresh. Four LED bulbs on the ceiling light the kitchen using electricity from solar panels in the yard. Staff usually eat at the kitchen table.
1924 – The hand pump at the kitchen sink draws water from the cistern in the basement. Yankee gutters on the roof capture rainwater to fill the cistern. A wood stove was used for cooking, heating water, and heating the house. There was no refrigerator or ice box to keep food cold. Light was provided by candles or oil lamps.

1924

Dining Room/Office
2024 – The quarters do not include a dining room. A desk in the living room holds office supplies, paperwork, and the log book where rangers note significant occurrences and communicate with other staff working at the station.
1924 – The dining room was not only a place to eat, but it was also a sewing room, a place the family could gather for Sunday worship, and an office for the lightkeeper. The keepers had a desk for doing paperwork, updating the log book, and writing letters to friends and family.

1924

Living Room
2024 – Besides the desk, the living room includes bookshelves. chairs, a couch, and a table by the front window. A battery charger for park radios sits on an end table with drawers next to the couch.
1924 – The music center is a wind up Amberola that plays cylindrical records. A lighthouse library box has three shelves of books and magazines. A large woodstove heats the room.

1924

Bathroom
2024 – Features include a sink with hot and cold running water, a shower, a flush toilet, electric lights, and a ventilator fan.
1924 – The keeper had a two-holer outhouse about 100 feet out the kitchen door. The bathtub/washtub was used in the kitchen.

1924

Bedrooms
Facilities are pretty much the same.

1924

Volunteer Bonnie McSwain worked with me during my time on Raspberry Island. This is Bonnie’s fifth season. You’ll see her featured in the top photograph and in front of the living room desk. We thank Bonnie for her dedication to sharing the stories of the island with park visitors.

In many ways, life on the island for park staff is easier than it was for the keepers one hundred years ago. We have park radios to communicate with each other and the cell service usually allows us to text or call our families at home. It doesn’t take much imagination, however, for the quiet, solitude, beauty, exposure to the elements and immersion in wild nature to help today’s light keepers begin to understand and empathize with our predecessors from the past. 

You can learn more about the opportunities to volunteer for the National Park Service here. And you can sign up to volunteer with Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore here. In our next installment, Neil offers park visitors a chance to show off their artistic abilities and to connect with the rich history of a talented Raspberry Island keeper.