South Haven Light

South Haven Light
	South Pierhead Light
Location	South Haven, Michigan
Coordinates	42°24′08″N86°17′04″W / 42.40222°N 86.28444°W
Tower
Constructed	1872
Foundation	Pier
Construction	Cast iron
Height	35 feet (11 m)
Shape	Cylindrical w/catwalk
Markings	red/black lantern, parapet and markings
Heritage	National Register of Historic Places listed place, Michigan state historic site
Fog signal	HORN: 2 blast ev 30s (2s bl- 2s si-2s bl-24s si). Diaphone.
Light
First lit	1903
Focal height	37 feet (11 m)
Lens	Fifth order Fresnel lens (original), Sixth order Fresnel lens (current)
Range	13 nautical miles (24 km; 15 mi)
Characteristic	Fl R 4 seconds
	Navigation Structures at South Haven Harbor, Michigan
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	Michigan State Historic Site
NRHP reference No.	95001160
Added to NRHP	October 23, 1995

Last updated July 21, 2025

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.^[5]

History

U.S. Coast Guard Archive USCGSouthhavensouthpierhead.JPG — U.S. Coast Guard Archive

The keeper's house is on shore, 2-1⁄2 stories tall, wood with a hipped-roof. It was also built in 1872, and is located at 91 Michigan Avenue onshore, was transferred to the city for preservation in 2000. The Michigan Maritime Museum has renovated the keeper's house as the Marialyce Canonie Great Lakes Research Library.^[6]

A Fifth order Fresnel lens manufactured by Parisian glass makers Barbier and Fenestre was installed in the lantern.

The current tower was designed by Eleventh District engineer James G. Warren.^[7]

The U.S. Lighthouse Service elected to tear down the wooden lighthouse and replace it. On October 6, 1903 ten workers arrived on the USLHS tender Hyacinth and began the project. It took a little more than a month to complete the project. According to The Daily Tribune (October 14, 1903) the lantern room was brought from Muskegon, Michigan where it had spent forty years on duty.^[8]

In 1913, the location was deemed unsatisfactory, and the cast iron lighthouse was moved 425 feet (130 m) to the end of the pier.^[8]

In 1999, Lighthouse Digest published an extensive article on the light, filled with interesting anecdotes and ephemera.^[8]

Directions

In 2005 this museum reported it was "in the process" of acquiring the lighthouse. It is accessible to the public, and located on the south pier at the mouth of the Black River, at the end of Water Street.^[9] Located at the end of the pier at the foot of Water Street in South Haven. One can get there by walking the pier after parking in the nearby city park. The site is open, but the tower is closed (except for open house during the city's mid-June Harborfest).^[6]

Notes

↑ Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy, South Haven Light.
1 2 3 Light List, Volume VII, Great Lakes (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard.
↑ Pepper, Terry. "Seeing the Light: Lighthouses on the western Great Lakes".
↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009. Archived from the original on July 25, 2008. Retrieved August 3, 2010.
↑ National Park Service, National Maritime Heritage Program, Inventory of Historic Lights, Manistee North Pier.
1 2 Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Michigan's Western Lower Peninsula". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
↑ Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light, South Haven Pier Light.
1 2 3 "Harrison, Timothy, South Haven Lights...Pages From Their Past, Lighthouse Digest, October, 1999". Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved August 27, 2006.
↑ Wobser, David and Petill, Jerry, South Haven Light Archived 2016-10-17 at the Wayback Machine , Boatnerd

External links

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Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
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[1] Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy, South Haven Light.

[uscg7-2] 1 2 3 Light List, Volume VII, Great Lakes (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard.

[3] Pepper, Terry. "Seeing the Light: Lighthouses on the western Great Lakes".

[nris-4] "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009. Archived from the original on July 25, 2008. Retrieved August 3, 2010.

[5] National Park Service, National Maritime Heritage Program, Inventory of Historic Lights, Manistee North Pier.

[unc.edu-6] 1 2 Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Michigan's Western Lower Peninsula". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

[7] Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light, South Haven Pier Light.

[lhdepot.com-8] 1 2 3 "Harrison, Timothy, South Haven Lights...Pages From Their Past, Lighthouse Digest, October, 1999". Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved August 27, 2006.

[9] Wobser, David and Petill, Jerry, South Haven Light Archived 2016-10-17 at the Wayback Machine , Boatnerd

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v t e Lighthouses in Michigan
Main: List of lighthouses in the United States
Northern Upper Peninsula	Au Sable Big Bay Point Copper Harbor Copper Harbor Front Range Crisp Point Eagle Harbor Eagle Harbor Range Lights Eagle River Fourteen Mile Point Grand Island East Channel Grand Island Harbor Rear Range Grand Island North Grand Marais Range Lights Granite Island Gull Rock Huron Island Isle Royale Manitou Island Marquette Breakwater Outer Marquette Harbor Mendota (Bete Grise) Munising Front Range Munising Rear Range Ontonagon Ontonagon Harbor West Breakwater Portage River (Jacobsville) Passage Island Presque Isle Harbor Breakwater Light Rock Harbor Rock of Ages Sand Hills Sand Point Light (Baraga) St. Martin Island Stannard Rock Thunder Bay Island Whitefish Point
Southern Upper Peninsula	DeTour Reef Lansing Shoals Manistique East Breakwater Martin Reef Menominee Pier Minneapolis Shoal Naubinway Island Peninsula Point Poverty Island Sand Point Seul Choix Squaw Island St. Martin Island
St. Mary's River	Frying Pan Island Pipe Island Point Iroquois Round Island Light (St. Mary's River) Six Mile Point Range Rear Winter Point Range Front
Portage River/Ship Canal	Keweenaw Waterway Lower Entrance Keweenaw Waterway Upper Entrance Portage Lake Rouleau Point Range Front and Rear Lights
Straits of Mackinac	Bois Blanc McGulpin Point Old Mackinac Point Round Island Round Island Passage St. Helena Island Wawatam
Western Lower Peninsula	Beaver Island Harbor Beaver Island Head Big Sable Point Cedar River Charlevoix Charlevoix South Pier Frankfort Frankfort South Range Grand Haven North Pierhead Grand Haven South Pierhead Entrance Grand Haven South Pierhead Inner Grand Traverse Grays Reef Holland Harbor Ile Aux Galets Little Sable Point Little Traverse Ludington Manistee Pierhead Manning Memorial Mission Point Mission Point (1933) Muskegon Breakwater Muskegon Pier North Manitou Shoal Pentwater North Pierhead Pentwater South Pierhead Point Betsie Portage Lake South Fox Island South Haven South Manitou Island St. Joseph North Pier Inner St. Joseph North Pier Outer Waugoshance White River White Shoal
Eastern Lower Peninsula	Alpena Caseville Harbor Charity Island Cheboygan Crib Cheboygan River Front Range Detroit River Fort Gratiot Forty Mile Point Fourteen Foot Shoal Gibraltar Gravelly Shoal Harbor Beach Lake St. Clair Mariners Memorial Middle Island Miller Memorial New Presque Isle Old Presque Isle Peche Island Rear Range Poe Reef Pointe aux Barques Port Austin Port Sanilac Saginaw Bay Saginaw River Rear Range Spectacle Reef St. Clair Flats Front and Rear Range Light Sturgeon Point Tawas Point Thunder Bay Island Tri-Centennial Light of Detroit William Livingstone Memorial Windmill Point
Historical (lost) lights	Au Sable North Pierhead Belle Isle Clinton River Ecorse Ecorse Range Rear Gibraltar Grassy Island Grassy Island North Channel Range Lights Grassy Island South Channel Range Lights Grosse Ile North Channel Range Lights Grosse Ile South Channel Range Lights Harwood Point East Range Front Kalamazoo River Mama Juda Mama Juda Range Front Manistee Main Middle Lake George Monroe Pier New Buffalo North Manitou Island Saginaw Bay Sand Beach North Entrance East Squaw Point St. Mary's River Lower Range Front Vidal Shoals Channel Range Front and Rear Lights Windmill Point Range Front and Rear Lights
Related	Lightship Huron List of lifesaving stations in Michigan Wixom Lake, Musselman Island lighthouse

v t e National Register of Historic Places in Michigan
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South Haven Light

Contents

History

Directions

See also

Notes

Further reading

External links