Undated USCG photo | |
![]() | |
Location | St. Helena Island, Moran Township, Mackinac County, Michigan |
---|---|
Coordinates | 45°51′18″N84°51′48″W / 45.85500°N 84.86333°W |
Tower | |
Constructed | 1873 ![]() |
Foundation | limestone |
Construction | brick |
Automated | 1922 |
Height | 63 feet (19 m) [1] |
Shape | frustum of a cone with attached cottage [2] |
Markings | white w/white lantern |
Heritage | National Register of Historic Places listed place ![]() |
Light | |
First lit | 1873 |
Focal height | 71 feet (22 m) [3] |
Lens | 31⁄2-order Fresnel lens [2] [4] (original), 12-inch (300 mm) ML-300 Tideland Signal acrylic [5] (current) |
Range | 6 nautical miles (11 km; 6.9 mi) [6] |
Characteristic | Fl W 6s [6] |
St. Helena Island Light Station | |
![]() St. Helena Island stands out from an icy background in the northwest quadrant of this wintertime aerial photograph. | |
Nearest city | St. Ignace, Michigan |
Area | 0.9 acres (0.36 ha) |
NRHP reference No. | 88000442 [7] |
Added to NRHP | April 27, 1988 |
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. [8] 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. [9]
St. Helena Island, which is 240 acres (97 ha) in size, is located offshore from Gros Cap, Michigan, 10 miles (16 km) west of Mackinac Island in the Lake Michigan approach to the Straits of Mackinac. The island has a natural harbor on its north shore, which provided shelter for both Native Americans and voyageurs, who sought shelter from fierce, foreseeable and notorious southwesterly storms, which would drive waves that gained strength running with the lake's length. [5]
During the Civil War years, it became increasingly apparent that a shoal near St. Helena Island menaced maritime traffic through the Straits of Mackinac. At the urging of the United States Lighthouse Board, Congress appropriated $14,000 in 1872 for a lighthouse to be built of limestone and brick on this location and fitted with a 3.5-order Fresnel lens. This work created the St. Helena Island Light. This Light became part of what would be complex of 14 reef lights distributed throughout the shoals and hazardous points of the Straits of Mackinac. [10] This essential Light was staffed by either one or two lighthouse keepers from its initial operation in 1873 until 1922. A complex of buildings was constructed around the lighthouse to support its operation, including keepers' dwellings, a boat dock, and a boathouse. [11]
This was the first Michigan lighthouse to lose its keeper. [12] In 1922, the lighthouse was automated. The tower was fitted with a tank of acetylene gas, a pilot light, and the "sun valve" recently invented by Nobel Prize-winning engineer Gustav Dalén. When the sun set, the temperature would drop slightly, causing the valve to open and acetylene to be released against the pilot flame. The light would then relight itself and shine throughout the night. With the sunrise the next morning, the valve would close. The St. Helena Island Light innovation was successful, and in the years after 1922, many other Michigan lighthouses would be refitted with sun valves.
The light is an active aid to navigation, and is used for maritime heritage education. It is managed by the Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association, which has a thirty-year lease, [13] but the Coast Guard maintains the optic. [8] [14]
After the St. Helena lighthouse complex was de-staffed and the civilian fishing station became a ghost settlement, evidence of human presence on the island began to structurally deteriorate. Wreckers, vandals, and plunderers imposed significant damage upon the light tower and adjacent structures. The U.S. Coast Guard, the lighthouse's last federal operator, viewed the remains as "attractive nuisances" for which they bore continuing legal liability. They recommended in 1980 that the lighthouse complex be razed. [15] Due to lack of demolition funds, the recommendation was not implemented. However, early in the 1980s, the assistant keeper's dwelling and boathouse were leveled. [11]
This recommendation was not implemented and the Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association (GLLKA) assumed ownership of the property and commenced restoration efforts in 1986 with the help of Boy Scouts of America Troop 4 from Ann Arbor, Michigan. [5] [16] The rehabilitation effort was significant, with an estimated 900 cubic yards (690 m3) of debris requiring removal. As of 2008, the GLLKA planned to continue restoring the lighthouse complex to its appearance in 1900. Possible future St. Helena goals include the construction of an unmanned visitor center on the island to educate visiting yachtsmen. [15] Restoration efforts are tied to similar activity on neighboring Round Island Light (Michigan). [16] The sale was made under the terms of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act.
The Coast Guard transferred the lighthouse complex and reservation to the GLLKA in 1997 via legislative transfer, on condition that the GLLKA continue to allow the Coast Guard to operate the light. [17] A light continues to operate to this day with a 9.8-inch (250 mm) acrylic lens, [18] the original Fresnel lens having disappeared. [11] The remainder of St. Helena Island, outside the lighthouse reservation, was purchased by the Little Traverse Conservancy [19] in September 2001.
The light's restoration has won numerous state national and state historic preservation awards. These include Keep Michigan Beautiful Award, Mid-West Living Hometown Pride Award, Take Pride in America Award and United States President George H. W. Bush’s 630th Point of Light Award in the "Thousand points of light" program. [11] The lighthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. It is Mackinac County listing #88000442. The light is also known as St. Helena Lighthouse and the St. Helene Lighthouse. [20]
St. Helena Island Light is one of 149 lighthouses in Michigan. Michigan has more lighthouses than any other state.
Boy Scouts from Troop 4 still visit the island every year in mid-June to continue renovations to the light station.
The St. Helena Lighthouse can be seen from numerous points on the Michigan mainland, including a lake shore highway rest area on US 2 at Gros Cap, Michigan 6 miles (9.7 km) west of St. Ignace, Michigan. The Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association annually organizes work crews for this light and often arranges tours that travel from Mackinaw City to the island. These tours are not handicap accessible due to the shallow water near the light. It is necessary to transfer from the tour boat to an Inflatable boat and then climb up on the dock from the rubber boat. Because of its picturesque color and form, and its location near Mackinac Island [21] and the Mackinac Bridge, it is often the subject of photographs. Even needlepoint illustrations have been created. [22]
A private boat is, of course, the best way to see this light close up. Short of that, Shepler's Ferry Service out of Mackinaw City offers periodic lighthouse tours in the summer season. Its "Westbound Tour" includes passes by St. Helena Island Light, and even offers a luncheon. Schedules and rates are available from Shepler's. [23] [24]
An expensive but exciting alternative is to charter a seaplane to tour the lights in the straits. [25]
Because it was positioned near the busy shipping lanes of the mid-19th century, a lighthouse was built on Granite Island in 1868 by the U.S. Lighthouse Board and commissioned in 1869.
Ile Aux Galets Light, also known as Skillagalee Island Light, is located on Ile Aux Galets, a gravelly, low-lying island in northeast Lake Michigan, between Beaver Island and the mainland, approximately 7 miles (11 km) northwest of Cross Village in Emmet County, Michigan. Along with nearby Grays Reef, Waugoshance, and White Shoal Lights, it warns shipping away from the reefs and shoals of Waugoshance Point, which pose an imminent hazard to navigation.
The DeTour Reef Light is a non-profit-operated lighthouse marking the southern entrance of the DeTour Passage between the eastern end of Michigan's Upper Peninsula and Drummond Island. The light is an automated active aid to navigation. It marks the northern end of Lake Huron. The passage is used by almost all of the Great Lakes commercial freighter traffic moving to and from Lake Superior, with approximately 5,000 vessel movements annually. It is said to be "the gateway to Lake Superior." In addition, many recreational boaters use the passage. The Light is located in Lake Huron, three miles (5 km) south of the nearest town, DeTour Village, Michigan.
Charity Island Light is a lighthouse on Big Charity Island in Lake Huron just off the coast of Au Gres, Northern Michigan.
The Cheboygan Crib Light is a light that marks the west pier head of the mouth of the Cheboygan River into Lake Huron. The pier head, in the center of the municipality of Cheboygan, is located at the north or lake end of Huron Street, and is one of the centerpieces of Cheboygan's Gordon Turner Park.
Old Mackinac Point Light is a deactivated lighthouse located at the northern tip of the Lower Peninsula in the U.S. state of Michigan. The lighthouse is part of Fort Michilimackinac State Park in the village of Mackinaw City just east of the Mackinac Bridge.
Port Austin Lighthouse is a lighthouse off the shore of Lake Huron, about 2.5 miles (4.0 km) north of Port Austin, Huron County Michigan sitting on a rocky reef (shoal), which is just north of the tip of the Thumb and a real hazard to navigation.
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.
Au Sable Light is an active lighthouse in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore west of Grand Marais, Michigan off H-58. Until 1910, this aid to navigation was called "Big Sable Light".
For the lighthouse of the same name in the St. Mary's River, see Round Island Light
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.
Bois Blanc Light can refer to one of five lighthouses erected on Bois Blanc Island, Michigan, in Lake Huron. Two of the lighthouses are currently standing. The lighthouse and surrounding property are privately owned and closed to the public.
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 approximately 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 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.
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.
McGulpin Point Light was constructed as a navigational aid through the Straits of Mackinac. The light began operation in 1869, making it one of the oldest surviving lighthouses in the Straits. Only in operation until 1906, the light is located on McGulpin Point,, approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Fort Michilimackinac.
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 Grand Island Harbor Rear Range Light is a lighthouse located off M-28 in Munising Township, Michigan. It is also known as the Bay Furnace Rear Range Light, Christmas Rear Range Light, or End of the Road Light. The corresponding front range light was replaced in 1968; the rear range light was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. It is no longer an active aid to navigation.