ASHTABULA Museum honors maritime history

The museum is in a former residence for lighthouse keepers.
By REBECCA SLOAN
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
ASHTABULA -- On a harbor hilltop overlooking an endless strip of blue water and lakefront docks littered with sooty mountains of coal and glittering heaps of iron ore sits the Ashtabula Great Lakes Marine and U.S. Coast Guard Memorial Museum.
It's the perfect setting for a museum that pays homage to the heyday of Ashtabula harbor industry -- the days when mighty freighters bustled in and out of port, work crews labored in the hot sun and gargantuan unloading machines scooped up tons of iron ore in one swipe.
During a museum visit, it's easy to imagine what those busy days must have been like.
The museum has an industrial lakeside view and houses numerous harbor artifacts, including a working scale model of an iron ore-unloading machine (called a Wellmen Electric Hullet) and hundreds of photos depicting the harbor's history and development.
Still going strong
Of course, Ashtabula Harbor's industry isn't just a thing of the past.
For proof, just take a gander out at the loading docks and glimpse coal cars being turned upside-down and emptied, or watch the harbor's well-known lift bridge raising two arms skyward to let a boat pass through.
Besides local history and industry, the museum also commemorates the unfaltering dedication of the U.S. Coast Guard toward saving lives, and many exhibits feature Coast Guard lifesaving equipment.
One item of particular interest is the Lyle Gun.
This gun resembles a small cannon, and in the old days during moments of peril, Coast Guard crew would use the gun to fire a line out to distressed vessels.
The museum also features many relics relating to the history all of the Great Lakes, not just Lake Erie.
Noteworthy artifacts include a vast array of ship models, antique underwater diving equipment, the bell from a sunken ship, numerous marine tools and the original light from Ashtabula Harbor's old lighthouse.
Modern lighthouse
Today, there's still a lighthouse operating in the harbor, but things have changed from the days when a lonely lighthouse keeper saw ships to safety.
Today's harbor lighthouse is operated by a remote control Coast Guard station in Buffalo, N.Y.
Although the lighthouse sits far out among the blue waves on a rocky break wall, it is still visible to museum visitors.
Speaking of lighthouses, the circa-1898 museum building happens to be a former residence for lighthouse keepers.
The original structure was a duplex shared by two lighthouse keepers who alternated shifts.
Directly behind the museum's main building is the museum's lake boat pilothouse, a snug little hovel with all the charm of a salty sea captain's quarters.
The pilothouse was scrapped from a vessel used on the Great Lakes from 1911 to 1986.
Surrounded by maritime gauges and gadgets, pilothouse visitors can plant both feet at the helm and look out over the harbor.
After adopting a captain's stance, it's easy to imagine what it might have been like to man a vessel and call the shots in fair and stormy weather.
Dangers of the lakes
Of course, stormy Great Lakes weather has made many a legend, and hanging on the wall of the pilothouse is an insulated survival suit made of a bright orange, waterproof material.
Suits such as these became mandatory after the ill-fated Edmund Fitzgerald sunk into the icy depths of Lake Superior.
Museum visitors who want to take a piece of maritime history home with them can browse the museum gift shop.
The Ashtabula Great Lakes Marine and U.S. Coast Guard Memorial Museum was dedicated in 1984 and is located at 1071 Walnut Blvd.
Hours are noon to 5 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from Memorial Day through the end of August.
During September, museum hours are noon to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. It is also open from noon to 5 p.m. Labor Day.
The museum is closed during winter.
For more information call (440) 964-6847.