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.

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

I hope you will Subscribe to Lost In Michigan 

This iron conical tower light stands in the trees along M-28 not far from the town of Christmas. It replaced the wooden lighthouse that was moved to Munising in 1914. I have driven the stretch on M-28 along the Lake Superior shoreline a few times. I knew this tower was located somewhere east of Christmas but I missed it because you can’t see it from the road hidden in the trees. There is an overgrown two-track that leads to it but you have to know where to find it. It is not an overly impressive lighthouse but it is one of the tallest iron tower navigational lights on the Great Lakes.

It has been decommissioned for a while and I am not sure who owns it, But it would be a nice location for a park. Being so close to the town of Christmas I think it should be painted Red White and Green and decorated in a Christmas theme. It would make for a nice place to stop along Lake Superior but unless you know about it many people just zoom on by without stopping.

P.S. I am not sure if the tower has a working light anymore but I ” turned it on ” in photoshop since I don’t like seeing a lighthouse without a hopeful beacon shining.

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

Thank you for Subscribing to Lost In Michigan, If you have not subscribed yet, It would mean a lot to me if you did.