- Allen
- Auglaize
- Crawford
- Darke
- Defiance
- Erie
- Fulton
- Hancock
- Hardin
- Henry
- Huron
- Logan
- Lorain
- Lucas
- Mercer
- Morrow
- Ottawa
- Paulding
- Putnam
- Richland
- Sandusky
- Seneca
- Shelby
- Van Wert
- Williams
- Wood
- Wyandot
The Village of Marblehead is located on the eastern tip of the Marblehead Peninsula. While there is plenty of stone here, it is not raw marble contrary to what some believe. The stone is actually limestone, but not just any limestone. The peninsula's limestone is an exception quality limestone. Limestone is not that important as a building or landscaping stone, but its real importance is that when the stone is crushed and then heated in an oven, it becomes lime and lime is used in the manufacture of steel, glass and as a farming fertilizer ingredient. When the quarrying began here, the stone was used primarily as a building material and those large stones were shipped throughout the Great Lakes and beyond. But because of our winters, that shipping was limited to warmer days. In the 1880s a railroad was built from Danbury out and around the peninsula. This dramatically increased the production capacity of the quarries, which required more workers. This increase in workers brought about the creation of Marblehead Village which was officially incorporated in 1891.
Over the years the quarry operations began to merge and automate. Large Great Lakes cargo ships became more economical to move the large amounts of limestone being quarried which brought an end to the railroad and sharply reduced number of employees. The Village of Marblehead no longer was a company town, but became a tourist destination. Every summer 1000s of visitors would flock to the area each week to spend time here. This tradition continues today. A number of condominium developments have made the area an affordable get away spot not only through the summer months, but cooler weekends when there are far fewer tourists.
Today the Village of Marblehead is about 2 square miles in size and has about 1,000 permanent residents (year round inhabitants) with considerably more during the warmer months. A number of antique and art shops line the main highway through the village as well as restaurants of all sorts. Of course the main attraction today is the Marblehead Lighthouse and the new Marblehead U.S. Life Saving Station.
In 2015 construction began on the Marblehead U.S. Life Saving Station which will be located inside the Marblehead Lighthouse State Park. When it opens in 2016 the facility will include a restored 27' Coast Guard rescue boat that can be launched directly from the state house. The architecture of the new station will closely resemble the original Marblehead U.S. Life Saving Station which was located about a mile away from the lighthouse and became operational in 1876.
The Marblehead Lighthouse was built in 1821 and is the oldest continuously operating lighthouse on the Great Lakes. It was also the first lighthouse to be manned by a woman. Today the park is free for visitors to stop by and relax, have a picnic and watch the boats. On days when the lighthouse is open visitors can climb the metal stairs to the top for a small fee. The keepers house next to the lighthouse when open is free to the public.
Located on the southeastern tip of the peninsula, this day-use park covers 8.7 acres and is divided into two parts. The Lake Erie side is a narrow strip of land between the highway and the lake and has a few park benches to relax and water watch. The western side of the highway is the larger portion of Lake Point Park. Here is a large quarry pond, includes picnic tables, grills, benches, a small playground and dirt trails around the pond.
First the land belonged was part of land set aside for Native Americans. After several conflicts, these groups were compensated and moved to other areas of the state before being removed entirely from the state. In 1806 the section known as the Firelands was surveyed by a Connecticut surveying team. During that process besides dividing up the land into townships which is basically a grid, those townships can be named by the survey crew or the first purchaser. In this case Danbury was named by the first settlers arriving here from Connecticut. M
with the town of the same name back in New England who mistook the granite rock common to that area to be marble just like early settlers arriving here mistook the limestone for marble as well. That would have been Benajah Wolcott of New Haven Connecticut. He worked on a survey team that mapping the western most edge of the Connecticut Western Reserve in 1806.
Once the survey was completed, the surveying crew returned to Connecticut with their maps, which at that time he purchased what would become known as the Marblehead Peninsula. He also operated the original lighthouse, and he built his home on the other side of the peninsula because the ground was better suited for farming on that side. When he died his wife took over operation of the lighthouse becoming the first woman to operate a lighthouse in the United States.
The Lafarge Mining Company
Marblehead Quarry produces approximately 4,000,000 tons of crushed limestone per year. The Quarry also provides scholarships to the local schools and frequently opens the quarry up for public tours. Today it is the only quarry operating on the peninsula, but in the 1800s and 1900s there were numerous quarry operations on the peninsula. These quarries were the major employers on the peninsula.
Because of the high demand for the limestone, a short railroad line was built to handle both the shipping of stone, but also the influx of visitors to the peninsula during the summer months. Today most of the crushed limestone is loaded on freighters.
The rare Lakeside Daisy is currently known to exist at only two natural sites in the United States: the Marblehead Quarry, and in Mackinac County, Michigan. Operated by the Ohio Division of Natural Areas and Preserves, the Lakeside Daisy Preserve encompasses 19 acres of the old limestone quarries on the Marblehead Peninsula of Lake Erie. This preserve was established to protect the only United States population of the Lakeside Daisy, a federally threatened plant species. The Division works with Lefarge Corporation to protect the Lakeside Daisy within the active limestone quarry. This is one of Ohio's most spectacular wildflowers. In early to mid-May, its bright yellow flowers adorn the sun-baked landscape of the Marblehead Quarry.
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