Manitou Island Light Station

Last updated
Manitou Island Light
Manitouisland.jpg
Undated USCG photo of the station
Manitou Island Light Station
LocationManitou Island, Michigan
Coordinates 47°25′11″N87°35′14″W / 47.41972°N 87.58722°W / 47.41972; -87.58722
Tower
Constructed1850
ConstructionIron
Automated1978
Height42.5 feet (13.0 m)
ShapeSkeletal with central column
MarkingsWhite
HeritageNational Register of Historic Places listed place  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Light
First lit1862
Focal height25 m (82 ft)  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
LensThird order Fresnel lens (original), 12-volt solar powered 7.5-inch (190 mm) acrylic optic (current)
Characteristic Fl W 10s  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Manitou Island Light Station
Nearest city Copper Harbor, Michigan
Built1861
MPS U.S. Coast Guard Lighthouses and Light Stations on the Great Lakes TR
NRHP reference No. 84001773 [1]
Added to NRHPJuly 19, 1984

The Manitou Island Light Station is a lighthouse located on Manitou Island, off the tip of Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula in Lake Superior. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. [1]

Contents

Description

The Manitou Island Light Station consists of a skeletal steel light tower with associated keeper's house, [2] outbuildings, and various walkways and foundations. [3] The tower base measures 26 feet (7.9 m) square at the base and is 17.5 feet (5.3 m) high. [2] The base supports a 42.5 feet (13.0 m) high skeletal tower, atop which is a cast iron ten-sided watch room and ten-sided lantern. [2] A circular staircase covered with iron and lined with wood provides access to the watchtower. [2] The original lens was a Third Order Fresnel Made by Le Paute of Paris and had six separate panels, each with a bull's eye prism. [2] The current lens is also a Third Order Fresnel, with four panels inscribed P. Barbier and Co., Paris. [2]

The keeper's house is a ten-room, two-story frame structure on a stone foundation. [3] It is sided with asbestos shingles (likely from the 1930s) and shingled with asphalt. [3] The interior still has some original doors and woodwork, but much of the wall material and flooring are modern additions. [3]

History

The first lighthouse on Manitou Island was a rubble-stone tower [3] built in 1850. [2] In 1861, the current light replaced it (one of three built that year with iron structure by the West Point Foundry in New York; [4] the other two were De Tour Reef and Whitefish Point lights, the latter of which still stands and it and Manitou are the oldest iron skeletal light towers on the Great Lakes); the keeper's house was built the same year. [2] A fog signal was added in 1871, and buildings to house it in 1875. These signals were refurbished in 1899. [5] In 1895, an oil house was added, in 1901 a boathouse, and in 1930 a concrete fog signal building was constructed, replacing the earlier one. [3] It is the oldest iron skeletal light tower on the Great Lakes. [2]

The light was automated in 1978, and is still in use as a navigational aid. [6] In 2004, the Keweenaw Land Trust acquired the light from the United States Government, along with surrounding land, [3] under the auspices of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act. [7] The area is open to the public, and is available for camping, rock collecting, hiking, boating, sea kayaking, fishing, and sightseeing. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Manitou Island</span> Island in Michigan

South Manitou Island is located in Lake Michigan, approximately 16 miles (26 km) west of Leland, Michigan. It is part of Leelanau County and the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The uninhabited island is 8.277 sq mi (21.44 km2) in land area and can be accessed by a ferry service from Leland. Guided tours on open-air vehicles are available to visitors, but most traffic is on foot. Larger North Manitou Island lies to its north.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Two Harbors Light</span> Lighthouse

The Two Harbors Light is the oldest operating lighthouse in the US state of Minnesota. Overlooking Lake Superior's Agate Bay, the lighthouse is located in Two Harbors, Minnesota. The construction of the lighthouse began in 1891 and was completed the following year, with the light being lit for the first time on April 14, 1892. The first Two Harbors keeper was Charles Lederle and there were normally three keepers assigned to make sure the light was lit every day. The Lighthouse was built to provide safe passage into the Agate Bay Harbor during the early 20th century, as Two Harbors was a major shipping point for the iron ore of the Mesabi Range.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ile Aux Galets Light</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DeTour Reef Light</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eagle Harbor Light</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

Eagle Harbor Light is an operational lighthouse at Eagle Harbor, in Keweenaw County in the state of Michigan. It sits on the rocky entrance to Eagle Harbor and is one of several light stations that guide mariners on Lake Superior across the northern edge of the Keweenaw Peninsula. The original lighthouse, built in 1851, was replaced in 1871 by the present red brick structure, which is a Michigan State Historic Site and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Mackinac Point Light</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Au Sable Light</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

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".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Point Betsie Light</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

Point Betsie Light is located on the northeast shore of Lake Michigan — at the southern entrance to the Manitou Passage — north of Frankfort in Benzie County in Northern Michigan. Construction began in 1854, but it was not completed until 1858, and began service in the shipping season of 1859. The lighthouse cost $5,000 to build. In 1875, a life saving station was built for $3,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White Shoal Light, Michigan</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harbor Beach Light</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

The Harbor Beach Lighthouse is a "sparkplug lighthouse" located at the end of the north breakwall entrance to the harbor of refuge on Lake Huron. The breakwall and light were created by the United States Army Corps of Engineers to protect the harbor of Harbor Beach, Michigan, which is the largest man-made freshwater harbor in the world. Harbor Beach is located on the eastern edge of the Thumb of Huron County, in the state of Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Manitou Island Lighthouse</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

South Manitou Island Lighthouse is located on South Manitou Island in Lake Michigan, 16 miles (26 km) west of Leland, Michigan. It is in Leelanau County in western Northern Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marquette Harbor Light</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

The Marquette Harbor Light is located on Lake Superior in Marquette, Michigan, a part of the Upper Peninsula. It is an active aid to navigation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rock of Ages Light</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gull Rock Light Station</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

The Gull Rock Light Station is an active lighthouse located on Gull Rock, just west of Manitou Island, off the tip of Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula in Lake Superior. The light was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984, even as its condition deteriorated, resulting in its placement on the Lighthouse Digest Doomsday List.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Passage Island Light</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

The Passage Island Light Station is a lighthouse located 3.25 mi (5.23 km) NE of Isle Royale, in NW Lake Superior, Michigan on Passage Island. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poverty Island Light Station</span> Lighthouse in Lake Michigan, United States

The Poverty Island Light is a light house located on Poverty Island in northwestern Lake Michigan, 5.8 miles (9.3 km) south of Garden Peninsula. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005 as the Poverty Island Light Station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Fox Island Light</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

The South Fox Island Light was a light station located on South Fox Island in the north end of Lake Michigan. There are two towers standing at the site: the first is the original brick keeper's house and tower, while the second is a skeletal tower moved to this site from Sapelo Island, Georgia in 1934. Neither is operational. The station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Reef Light Station</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Marais Harbor of Refuge Inner and Outer Lights</span> Lighthouses in Michigan, United States

The Grand Marais Harbor of Refuge Inner and Outer Lights are a pair of lighthouses located on the west pier at the entry to Grand Marais Harbor of Refuge, in Grand Marais, Michigan. They were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Middle Island Light</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

The Middle Island Light is a lighthouse located on Middle Island in Lake Huron, about 10 miles (16 km) north of Alpena, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Manitou Island Light Station Archived 2011-06-06 at the Wayback Machine form the state of Michigan, retrieved 8/19/09
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 NATIONAL HISTORIC LIGHTHOUSE PRESERVATION ACT APPLICATION TO OBTAIN LIGHT STATION PROPERTY Archived 2008-08-28 at the Wayback Machine , Keweenaw Land Trust, Inc
  4. "Marine Intelligence". The Buffalo Commercial: 3. 22 Mar 1861. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  5. Terry Pepper, Manitou Island Lighthouse, Seeing the Light
  6. "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Michigan". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01. Retrieved August 19, 2009.
  7. 1 2 Manitou Island Light Station Preserve from the Keweenaw Land Trust, retrieved 8/19/09