History of lighthouses with demands, and to the loss of a number of ships, most notably the Dutch merchant ship Vreede in 1800 with the loss of 380 lives. After the reforms of the Lighthouse Act 1836, owners still managed to collect large dues, of which the largest were for the Smalls Lighthouse which collected £23,000 in 1852 and Trinity House was forced to spend over £1m in buying back leases, including £444,000 for the Skerries Lighthouse. The modern era of lighthouses began at the turn of the 18th century, as lighthouse construction boomed in lockstep with burgeoning levels of transatlantic commerce. Advances
Apostle Islands Lighthouses Apostle Islands Lighthouses There are several historic lighthouses on Lake Superior on or near the Apostle Islands in Wisconsin. Six of these lighthouses, all in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, were listed as a group on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 under the name Apostle Islands Lighthouses. The lighthouses are generally located at the edge of the group of islands, as beacons to guide shipping through and around the islands. The need for guidance increased in 1855 when the Soo Locks opened, connecting Lake Superior to the St. Lawrence Seaway to the east. Shipping also increased as