A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways.
The station named Nantucket or Nantucket Shoals was served by a number of lightvessels that marked the hazardous Nantucket Shoals south of Nantucket Island. The vessels, given numbers as their "name," had the station name painted on their hulls when assigned to the station. Several ships have been assigned to the Nantucket Shoals lightship station and have been called Nantucket. It was common for a lightship to be reassigned and then have the new station name painted on the hull. The Nantucket station was a significant US lightship station for transatlantic voyages. Established in 1854, the station marked the limits of the dangerous Nantucket Shoals. She was the last lightship seen by vessels departing the United States, as well as the first beacon seen on approach. The position was 40 miles (64 km) southeast of Nantucket Island, the farthest lightship in North America, and experienced clockwise rotary tidal currents.
The United States lightship Huron (LV-103) is a lightvessel that was launched in 1920. She is now a museum ship moored in Pine Grove Park, Port Huron, St. Clair County, Michigan.
The unmanned reef lights of the Florida Keys were erected between 1921 and 1935. As they were marking local hazards, they did not need to be visible for as far as the reef lights that were erected during the 19th century. By the time these lights were erected, older lighthouses were being automated, and these new lights were designed to be automated from the start. The lights resembled the older reef lights in having a skeletal pyramidal upper structure on screw-pile foundations. They all originally had lanterns on their peaks, so that they looked like smaller versions of the older reef lights, but had no keeper's quarters.
United States lightship Nantucket (LV-112) is a National Historic Landmark lightship that served at the Lightship Nantucket position. She was the last serving lightship and at time of its application as a landmark, one of only two capable of moving under their own power. She served as the lightship for such notable vessels as the liners United States, Queen Mary, and Normandie.
The White Shoal Light is a lighthouse located 20 miles (32 km) west of the Mackinac Bridge in Lake Michigan. It is an active aid to navigation. It is also the tallest lighthouse on the Great Lakes.
The lighthouse at Fourteen Foot Shoal was named to note that the lake is only 14 feet (4.3 m) deep at this point, which is a hazard to navigation, ships and mariners.
Poe Reef is a lighthouse located at the east end of South Channel between Bois Blanc Island and the mainland of the Lower Peninsula, about 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Cheboygan, Michigan.
The ruined lighthouse at Waugoshance protects boats from a shoal area at the northern end of Lake Michigan. The lighthouse is located in Emmet County, Michigan, United States, and in U.S. Coast Guard District No. 9. It is about 15 miles (24 km) west of Mackinaw City. Due to erosion and deterioration, the lighthouse is deteriorating and critically endangered, and likely to fall into the lake in the near future.
The Rock of Ages Light is a U.S. Coast Guard lighthouse on a small rock outcropping approximately 2.25 miles (3.62 km) west of Washington Island and 3.5 miles (5.6 km) west of Isle Royale, in Eagle Harbor Township, Keweenaw County, Michigan. It is an active aid to navigation.
The Ship John Shoal Light marks the north side of the ship channel in Delaware Bay on the east coast of the United States, near the Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge. Its cast iron superstructure was exhibited at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Spectacle Reef Light is a lighthouse 11 miles (18 km) east of the Straits of Mackinac and is located at the northern end of Lake Huron, Michigan. It was designed and built by Colonel Orlando Metcalfe Poe and Major Godfrey Weitzel, and was the most expensive lighthouse ever built on the Great Lakes.
The Detroit River Light, also known as Bar Point Shoal Light, was first established as a lightship in 1875. The current sparkplug lighthouse was built in 1885. It sits in Lake Erie, south of the mouth of the Detroit River, 1.75 nautical miles from land and about 20 nautical miles from the Ambassador Bridge in the Detroit River. It is about 0.4 nautical miles from the border with Canada, and just under 24 nautical miles from Put-in-Bay, Ohio. Its original 4th order Fresnel lens is on loan to the Michigan Maritime Museum.
The Green Bay Harbor Entrance Light is an offshore lighthouse near Green Bay, Wisconsin. Located 10 miles (16 km) from the mouth of the Fox River, it was erected to signal the entrance to Green Bay.
The Grays Reef Light is a lighthouse located in northeastern Lake Michigan, 3.8 miles (6.1 km) west of Waugoshance Island in Bliss Township, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
The Minneapolis Shoal Light Station is a light house located in northern Green Bay, 6.6 miles (10.6 km) south of Peninsula Point near Big Bay de Noc, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.
The Ship Shoal Light is a screw-pile lighthouse located in the Gulf of Mexico southwest of the Isles Dernieres off the coast of Louisiana. It is currently abandoned.
The Lansing Shoals Light Station is a lighthouse located in northeastern Lake Michigan, 6.3 miles (10.1 km) southeast of Point Patterson, in Newton Township, Mackinac County, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
The Martin Reef Light Station is a lighthouse located in northern Lake Huron, 4.3 miles (6.9 km) south of Cadogan Point in Clark Township, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
The North Manitou Shoal Light, also known as the North Manitou Light or, locally, The Crib, is a lighthouse located in Lake Michigan, southeast of North Manitou Island in Leland Township, Michigan. When it was automated in 1980, it was the last manned offshore light in the Great Lakes. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
