History
In 1871, Orlando M. Poe recommended the construction of this light. However, a paucity of funds delayed the United States Congress in acting on the request. [3]
The site was purchased in 1883, and the United States Lighthouse Service built the light in 1884.
The decagonal lantern room is painted white and has a red roof. The fourth order Fresnel lens was manufactured in Paris by L. Sautter, Lemonnie & Co. in 1881.
A "very rare" fog bell square pyramidal tower was built in 1896 in front of the tower. The structure and the striking mechanism are still in place. [4] Other structures included a brick paint locker, summer kitchen, wooden boat storage shed, and auto garage [5]
The lighthouse was manned by personnel until 1963 when a modern replacement light and tower was constructed, consisting of a white steel skeleton on a foundation of concrete. It is 62 feet (19 m) tall, with a focal plane of 72 feet (22 m), It emits a green flash every six seconds. It is located on the point east of the lighthouse. [4] [6]
It is very difficult to visit the lighthouse as it is located on private property and unless you own a house in the gated community or are a guest. The lighthouse is not available to the public and people are not allowed inside. There is checkpoint that is manned 24 hours a day at the entrance.
This unique lighthouse has been the subject of paintings. [7]
Elizabeth Whitney Williams was one of the first female lighthouse keepers to serve on the Great Lakes, and wrote a memoir that included her experiences at this light. [8]
Mission Point Light is a lighthouse located in the U.S. state of Michigan at the end of Old Mission Point, a peninsula jutting into Grand Traverse Bay 17 miles (27 km) north of Traverse City. When it was built in 1870, it was an exact copy of the Mama Juda Light, which was built on the Detroit River in 1866.
The Holland Harbor Light, known as Big Red, is located in Ottawa County, Michigan at the entrance of a channel connecting Lake Michigan with Lake Macatawa, and which gives access to the city of Holland, Michigan.
The Frankfort Light is a lighthouse located on the north breakwater in the harbor in Frankfort, Michigan. The current light was constructed in 1912 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
The Ludington Light is a 57-foot (17 m) tall steel-plated lighthouse in Ludington, Michigan, which lies along the eastern shores of Lake Michigan, at the end of the breakwater on the Pere Marquette Harbor. Given its location on the northern breakwater where the Pere Marquette River meets Lake Michigan, it is sometimes known as the Ludington North Breakwater Light. Underlying the building itself is a prow-like structure, which is designed to break waves.
The buildings of the St Helena Light complex are the sole surviving structures on St. Helena Island, in Mackinac County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The lighthouse on the St. Helena Island's southeastern point was built in 1872-1873 and went into operation in September 1873. It became one of a series of lighthouses that guided vessels through the Straits of Mackinac, past a dangerous shoal that extends from the island.
Grand Traverse Light is a lighthouse in the U.S. state of Michigan, located at the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula, which separates Lake Michigan and Grand Traverse Bay. It marks the Manitou passage, where Lake Michigan elides into Grand Traverse Bay. In 1858, the present light was built, replacing a separate round tower built in 1852. The lighthouse is located inside Leelanau State Park, 8 miles (13 km) north of Northport, a town of about 650 people. This area, in the Michigan wine country, is commonly visited by tourists during the summer months.
Gravelly Shoals Light is an automated lighthouse that is an active aid to navigation on the shallow shoals extending southeast from Point Lookout on the western side of Saginaw Bay. The light is situated about 2.7 miles (4.3 km) offshore and was built to help guide boats through the deeper water between the southeast end of Gravelly Shoals and Charity Island. Architecturally this is considered to be Art Deco style.
A lighthouse keeper or lightkeeper is a person responsible for tending and caring for a lighthouse, particularly the light and lens in the days when oil lamps and clockwork mechanisms were used. Lighthouse keepers were sometimes referred to as "wickies" because of their job trimming the wicks.
The South Haven South Pierhead Light is a lighthouse in Michigan, at the entrance to the Black River on Lake Michigan. The station was lit in 1872, and is still operational. The tower is a shortened version of the Muskegon South Pierhead Light, and replaced an 1872 wooden tower. The catwalk is original and still links the tower to shore: it is one of only four that survive in the State of Michigan.
Forty Mile Point Light is a lighthouse in Presque Isle County near Hammond Bay on the western shore of Lake Huron in Rogers Township, Michigan USA.
The Beaver Head Light is located high on a bluff on the southern tip of Beaver Island. Boats trying to navigate North on Lake Michigan need to carefully work their way between Beaver Island and Gray's Reef.
The Ladies Delight Light is a small lighthouse on Lake Cobbosseecontee, in Winthrop, Maine, United States. It was constructed in 1908 and is believed to be the only active inland waters lighthouse in Maine. The tower is 25 feet (7.6 m) tall, and is equipped with a solar powered high-intensity marine beacon. It operates every night of the year. At the time of its construction, it was the only inland lake lighthouse east of the Mississippi River. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
The Sturgeon Point Light Station is a lighthouse on Lake Huron in Haynes Township, Alcona County, northeastern lower Michigan. Established to ward mariners off a reef that extends 1.5 miles (2.4 km) lakeward from Sturgeon Point, it is today regarded as a historic example of a Cape Cod style Great Lakes lighthouse.
Manitou Island is a small island in Lake Superior, off the northeastern tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is part of Grant Township, in Keweenaw County. Located approximately three miles from the mainland, it encompasses around 1,000 acres (4.0 km2). Manitou has seen limited impact from human activity because of its remote location and the often-treacherous waters caused by a strong current at the peninsula's tip. It is mostly forested, with scattered bogs and an inland lake known as "Perch Lake". Dense underbrush can make travel around the island rather difficult, though a few unimproved trails do exist. The Keweenaw Land Trust protects 93 acres (0.38 km2) of the island as the Manitou Island Light Station Preserve.
The Manistee Pierhead lights are a pair of active aids to navigation located on the north and south pier in the harbor of Manistee, Michigan, "Lake Michigan’s Victorian Port City."
The Toronto Harbour Light is an automated lighthouse at Vicki Keith Point on the Leslie Street Spit in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Tawas Point Light is located in the Tawas Point State Park off Tawas Bay in Lake Huron in Baldwin Township in Northern Michigan.
Pointe aux Barques Lighthouse is an active lighthouse located in Huron County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located along the shores of Lake Huron on the northeastern tip of the Thumb. Originally constructed in 1848, it is one of the oldest active lighthouses in the state. The name is translated as "point of little boats" from the French language, which refers to the shallow coastline that poses a threat to larger boats.
The Seul Choix Light is a lighthouse located in the northwest corner of Lake Michigan in Schoolcraft County, Michigan. The station was established in 1892 with a temporary light, and this light started service in 1895, and was fully automated in 1972. It is an active aid to navigation. There is now a museum at the light and both the building and the grounds are open for visitors from Memorial Day until the middle of October.
