The light at the end of the break wall in Alpena was constructed in 1914. It was built out of steel replacing two previous lights that were made from wood and deteriorated in northern Michigan’s harsh climate. It is not really a true lighthouse like other ones in Michigan. It is more a beacon and the keeper lived nearby in a house provided to him. Because of the way it looks with its framework, some people have affectionately called it Sputnik after the Soviet Union satellite.

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Michigan has more lighthouses than any other state in the union. I have been slowly visiting all of them but sometimes I come across a lighthouse that I did not expect. I saw this lighthouse tower constructed with fieldstone standing in Scidmore Park where the Rocky River combines with the St Joseph River in the southwestern town of Three Rivers.

I was not able to find any history on the little inland lighthouse but it looks as if it has been standing quietly in Three Rivers for a long time.

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The Silver Lake Sand Dunes are mostly known as a playground for ORVs and dune buggies. In the southern end of Silver Lake State Park stands the historic Little Sable Point Lighthouse. After the April 1871 beaching of the schooner Pride. To aid in navigation around the hazard, the United States Congress approved funding in 1872 for the erection of a lighthouse. The location’s inaccessibility by road delayed the completion of the lighthouse until 1874. A house was constructed to board the keeper, his assistant, and their families. The tower was painted white in 1899 to make it more visible to ships during the day and was restored to its original brick in the 1970s. The lamp was electrified and automated in 1954. After automation, a keeper was no longer needed and the house and ancillary buildings were razed.

P.S. The word Sable is used to name a lot of places in Michigan. In French it means sand. With all the sand along Lake Michigan, Little Sable Point is a logical name And Big Sable Point is in Ludington State Park.

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Hidden a few feet under the surface of the water in Lake Superior is Stannard Rock.  It is about 24 miles offshore and somewhere between the Keweenaw Peninsula and Marquette.  After the hulls of several ships were cut open by this submerged “can opener” a lighthouse was built in 1883 to warn ships of the dangers that lurked below.

In the lighthouse house service, it is known as a Stag Station since many remote lighthouse was manned by men who were not married. Because of its remote location, it was given the moniker of “The loneliest place on earth.”

The interesting thing about the human species is we can endure a lot of hardships, but it helps when we face challenges together. We have always been social creatures relying on one another for support and compassion and being isolated from one another one of the most difficult things we can do. I guess that is why solitary confinement is punishment for prisoners that don’t behave. Telling people to stay isolated from one another seems like a form of punishment but at least we have the internet and communications with each other. I could not imagine being stationed in a northern Michigan lighthouse without any form of communication and not knowing what is going on in the world until the supply ship comes once a month. That must have been a great day when they finally installed radios in the remote lighthouses.

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P.S. I have not been to Stannard Rock Lighthouse on my quest to see all the lighthouses in Michigan. I hope to someday but for now, this is a pic from Wikipedia.

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This old lighthouse built in 1866 stands on a small point on Copper Harbor. The light was automated in 1919 and then replaced by the steel tower next to it in 1933. The tower remains an active aid to navigation today but the old lighthouse sits empty and is part of the Fort Wilkins State Park. When you look on a map it seems like you can drive out to the lighthouse but unfortunately, the point it sits on is landlocked by private property. In years past the state park had a contract with a company to ferry tourists to the lighthouse. On my last visit, the park was still looking for someone to operate a ferry. I hope they will find a way to allow visitors to tour the old lighthouse. For now, you can see the lighthouse from Astor Shipwreck Park along the shoreline near the state park.

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I always have to stop and get some pics of lighthouses when I am nearby. I was north of Rogers City on the coast of Lake Huron so I had to stop by and visit the 40 Mile Point Lighthouse. I will visit even in the middle of winter if it is open to the public. A Michigan historical marker proudly stands near the lighthouse with some facts and reads:

During the late 1800s, the U.S. Lighthouse Board created a system of coastal lights along Lake Huron’s Michigan shore so that mariners would always be within sight of at least one. With a light south of Forty Mile Point on the Presque Isle Peninsula and one to the north at Cheboygan, and eighteen mile stretch of shoreline remained unlighted and dangerous. In1890 the board recommended that a light be built at Forty Mile Point. The light was completed in 1896, and Xavier Rains served as the first keeper, The lighthouse was transferred to Presque Isle County in 1998, but the Coast Guard retained ownership of its Fresnal lens. The site was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

If you are in the northeast lower peninsula stop by for a visit. Besides the lighthouse, they have other things on display including a pilothouse from an old freighter.  You can also see the remains of an old shipwreck on the beach if it is not covered up by the high water levels.

Standing along the Lake Michigan Shoreline is a small lighthouse tower.  It is located near the boat launch in Empire in memory of Robert H. Manning. He was born in 1927, and lived in Empire his entire life. He was an avid fisherman and would stay out after the sun had set. He would tell his friends and family how nice it would be for the town of Empire to have a lighthouse to guide people back to shore. After he died in 1989, his family and friends raised funds and built a lighthouse in his memory near the boat launch at Empire Village Park. The lighthouse was illuminated in Manning’s memory, and the Coast Guard recognizes it as a private aid to navigation. What could be a more wonderful way to remember a loved one, than building a lighthouse that shines a light in the darkness guiding others to safety.

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