The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Page 93 By 1907, more dredging and an expansion of the new channel had made the old South Channel and the famous pair of lights obsolete and they were deactivated that year. Over the years that followed, the lights deteriorated and both vandals and Mother Nature took their toll. Ice was a major problem with spring icejams working their way down the channels and hammering the aging cribs every year. During the years of Prohibition some very prestigious gentlemen procured a lease of the keeper's quarters at the rear light and formed a group called the "Prosit Club." Then, sometime during the 1930s, the keeper's dwelling was demolished reportedly after a fierce storm did heavy damage to the structure. View of the Rear Light and Keeper's Dwelling, circa 1904 entry room used for storing fuel. This light was tended nightly by dinghy from the 37 foot high rear light, located approximately 1,000 feet to the northeast. The rear light also included a two-story brick keeper's dwelling, attached to the tower by a gable-roofed passageway, and docking facilities for the tender boats. Both towers were built of Milwaukee creme brick and were visible for 11 and 13 miles respectively. These lights immediately proved to be very important to lake commerce. Almost at once, traffic doubled as now upbound vessels could find their way into the channel at any hour of the day or night. At one point, 88 boats a day passed by these beacons. Shipping on the lakes continued to grow at such a rate that in 1871, a second channel was dredged to accommodate this growing level of traffic. The larger, faster steamers used the newer, deeper channel leaving the older lumber schooners and other slower boats to the old channel. ..mzsr' Chart of Lake St. Clair, 2010