Lighthouses Archives - Page 3 of 13

Saving The Life Saving Station

Posted on May 10, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Lighthouses .

I visited Point Aux Barques Lighthouse at the tip of the Thumb last summer. It has been a while since I had seen it. I saw the old Life Saving buildings nearby and took some pics. I did not think to much about it at the time but I did not remember them being there when I visited a few years ago.

I came across the pics from last summer and then it reminded me to check into the old USLSS buildings. I thought maybe I was loosing my mind not remembering the old buildings but the were actually moved to their current location a few years ago. The historic buildings built in 1875 were moved in 1960 to the Huron City Museum to save them from demolition. They were recently moved back to the lighthouse and are undergoing renovations to be used as a museum. Only a few stations of the 1875-style were built in the United States and it is wonderful that this one in the Thumb is being saved.

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Big Red

Posted on April 30, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Lighthouses .

On the south side of the Holland Chanel is one of the most photographed lighthouses in Michigan. The 1907 building was built as a fog signal building only. The light stood adjacent to it as a separate structure until 1936 when the Coast Guard consolidated the two by putting a light tower on top of the fog signal. In 1956 the tan colored building was sandblasted and painted red and was affectionately given the nickname of “Big Red”

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Grays Reef Lighthouse

Posted on April 13, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Lighthouses .

Grays Reef is in northern Lake Michigan near the entrance to the Straits Of Mackinac. It was marked by a lightship until 1937 when this lighthouse was completed. It was manned by a crew of four men and one night in May of 1965 they were startled by a large thump when the freighter J.E. Upson had crashed into the lighthouse in dense fog. It did little damage to the lighthouse but the ships bow was split open and taking on water. Luckly the ship made it to Mackinaw City before sinking. In 1976 the crew was removed for the winter for the final time and the light was automated and has been sitting in Lake Michigan alone.

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Little Sable Point Lighthouse

Posted on April 3, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Lighthouses .

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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The Tortured Breakwater Light

Posted on March 20, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Lighthouses .

The Muskegon Breakwater Light stands at the end of the south breakwater. It sits out there taking the brunt force of Lake Michigan waves and wind all year long. It was built in 1929 and has worked in conjunction with the light at the end of the pier. They are like two brothers that work together in guiding sailors into the Muskegon Channel. I wonder if the light at the end of the pier ever feels guilty watching it’s little brother being tortured by the storms of Lake Michigan.

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Point Iroquois Lighthouse, A Spectacular Light on Lake Superior

Posted on March 11, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Lighthouses, upper peninsula .

Point Iroquois and its light near Brimley On Lake Superior mark the division line between Whitefish Bay and the western end of the St. Marys River. It was named for the Iroquois warriors massacred there by the Ojibwein 1662. Native Algonkians called the point “Nadouenigoning”, composed of the words “Nadone” (Iroquois) and “Akron” (bone).
In 1620, French explorers Étienne Brûlé and Grenoble became the first recorded white men to the area. “From that time, Point Iroquois became a familiar landmark” for French explorers, fur traders and missionaries who followed. Sault Ste. Marie was the first white settlement in what became known as Michigan.
In 1853 Congress, which had approved the construction of the first Soo Locks on the St. Mary’s River, and appropriated $5,000 for the construction of what would be the first lighthouse at Point Iroquois.In 1855-1856 the United States Lighthouse Board built a wood and rubble stone lighthouse at the Point; this aid to navigation commenced operations on June 18, 1856. The first Point Iroquois light was a 45-foot-tall rubble stone tower with a wooden lantern deck, outfitted with a flashing white fourth order Fresnel lens. Only eleven years after the first light went into operation, a government inspector was questioning the construction quality of the first light station and preparing the ground for its replacement.
In 1870, after the first lighthouse and keepers’ quarters building were torn down and the second and current Point Iroquois Light was constructed, this time at an estimated cost of $18,000. The present Cape Cod style white brick lighthouse was built and ran continuously for 93 years, guiding ships in and out of the Soo Locks. It has a 65-foot tower height.
In 1885, a bell tower was erected, which incorporated a Stevens automatic bell striking machine. In 1890, the bell tower was torn down, and a fog signal building was built with steam whistles installed. In 1926 they were replaced by Type F diaphone fog horns.
In 1905, a two-floor extension was added to the 1871 building, providing living space for another assistant keeper, bringing the staff to three Lighthouse keepers. At peak operation, the station was manned by a Head Keeper and two Assistant Keepers. The children of the keepers and local fisherman were enough to populate a local school on the grounds for a period.Other buildings on the site included: an assistant keeper’s quarters, fog signal building (now gone), three barns, a chicken house, boat house, oil house, outhouse and well house.
The station was deactivated in 1962, replaced by the Canadian operated Gros Cap Reefs Light, an unmanned buoy-type beacon in the St. Marys River channel.
In 1963, the original lens was sent to the Smithsonian Institution. Currently the lighthouse is now a museum and visitors can climb the stairs to the top of the tower, although the light is gone the view is spectacular.

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The Frankfort Lighthouse

Posted on March 5, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Lighthouses .

The Frankfort light was constructed in 1912 and stood on the end of a wooden pier. A concrete breakwater was constructed in the 1930s along with a two-story steel building. The light tower was placed on top of the two-story structure at the end of the breakwater. It has been standing vigilant ever since.

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The Haunted Marquette Lighthouse

Posted on February 26, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Haunted Places, Lighthouses .

The big red Lighthouse that proudly stands at the entrance to the harbor was built in 1865. It is now maintained by the Marquette Maritime Museum which also gives tours of the historic lighthouse. On different occasions, tour guides and visitors have seen a ghost of a little girl wearing a 1910s style dress. Sometimes she is seen staring out of the window over Lake Superior or on the catwalk around the Lantern. She seems to like showing her spirit to women and other children.

There was no reported death of a little girl at the lighthouse, however, there was a young daughter of a keeper who was badly injured when she fell on the rocks at the shoreline. Interestingly it happened shortly after the turn of the century. I don’t know if the lighthouse is haunted, but strangely a lot of lighthouse keepers have resigned their duties abruptly while serving at the big red lighthouse. Be sure to check it out next time you are in Marquette.

If you love lighthouses I hope you will take a look at my new Lighthouse book HERE

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A Memorial Light

Posted on February 20, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Lighthouses .

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.

If you love lighthouses I hope you will take a look at my new Lighthouse book HERE

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The Lighthouse in Winter

Posted on February 12, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Lighthouses .

When the lakes freeze over and the ships no longer sail the waters of the Great Lakes, the lighthouses still stand vigilant along the shoreline. For the lighthouse keepers and their families, it must have been a lonely winter, especially at the lighthouses that are miles away from any town. This is the new Presque Isle lighthouse, It’s called new because the old Presque Isle lighthouse stands a few miles away. The old one was not tall enough and the one that replaced it is one of the tallest on the Great Lakes. It is the tallest Lighthouse tower in Michigan open to the public.

If you love lighthouses I hope you will take a look at my new Lighthouse book HERE

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