Remember last summer when I visited a ton of Michigan lighthouses? I had a blast learning and taking photos of the old lights and towers. And even though we visited over 20 lights, there are still many more that I've never seen! So earlier this week, after an early morning drive up to the
Mackinac Bridge, we took a detour over to Lake Huron... and stopped at a few lighthouses I hadn't visited before!
One of our stops included the
Presque Isle Light Station, which might look somewhat familiar. Though it was built in 1870, the structure's design was so popular it was replicated for other lights across the Great Lakes- including the lighthouse I volunteered at last summer,
Little Sable.
As the historical marker states:
This lighthouse, built in 1870 by Orlando M. Poe, is one of three Great Lakes towers built from the same plans. It replaced the smaller 1840 harbor light. The conical brick tower rises 113 feet from a limestone foundation. The Third Order Fresnel lens was made by Henri LePaute of Paris. Patrick Garrity, the keeper of the harbor light, lit the lamp for the first time for the opening of the 1871 navigation season. Garrity served here until 1885 when he became keeper of the Harbor Range Lights. His wife, Mary, sons Thomas, Patrick and John, and daughter Anna all served as light keepers in this area. In 1890 a steam operated fog signal manufactured by Variety Iron Works of Cleveland, Ohio, was installed. The light was automated in 1970 by the U.S. Coast Guard.
The light station is really beautiful, and has been maintained very well. The keeper's quarters are still standing and have been turned into a museum.
The light station was built on a peninsula, so the light can be seen from the water on in many directions!
It was exciting to see the first Poe lighthouse- I hope I have a chance to visit again!
A little farther north we were able to visit the
Forty Mile Point Lighthouse.
According to the historical marker:
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 one to the north at Cheboygan, and eighteen mile stretch of shoreline remained unlighted and dangerous. In 1890 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.
I think the design of this lighthouse is extremely cool! The tower is built between 2 complete living spaces, so both the keeper and the assistant had their own "houses", which included multiple bedrooms, kitchen, living room. Best of all, each "house" also had a skylight, so the keepers could check the status of the light without leaving the comfort (and warmth) of their homes... how handy is that?
This light was built on a very beautiful part of the lake, though it can also be a very dangerous section of the lake. As another historical marker reads:
Lake Huron
Graveyard of Ships
Named by seventeenth century French explores La Mer Douce the sweet or freshwater sea, Lake Huron is the second largest of the five Great Lakes. It has over 3,800 miles of shoreline and contains 30,000 islands, among them Manitoulin, the world's largest freshwater island. Violent storms on the "sweet sea" have made it dangerous for ships. As of 2006, 1,200 wrecks had been recorded. During the Big Blow of 1905, twenty-seven wooden vessels were lost. One of these, the steamer Joseph S. Fay, ran aground. A portion of its hull rests on the beach approximately 200 feet north of the Forty Mile Lighthouse. The Great Storm of 1913 was responsible for sinking many modern ships.
The sand was full of snow and ice, so I didn't attempt the walk out to the wreck... although my curiosity has been piqued so now I'm desperate to visit again when the weather has warmed a bit!
And last, but certainly not least, we saw
Old Presque Isle Lighthouse. The marker reads:
Presque Isle Harbor is one of Lake Huron's safest harbors of refuge. Its name comes from the peninsula which, translating from the French, is "almost an Island." Indians and Frenchmen portaged across the peninsula to avoid several miles of open lake. When vessels came to the harbor in increasing numbers, Congress in 1838 appropriated $5,000 for a lighthouse. Jerimiah Moors of Detroit in 1840 completed this lighthouse, which today is one of the oldest surviving lighthouses on the Great Lakes. Pat Garrity, the last keeper of this lighthouse, was appointed by President Lincoln. Four of Garrity's children, raised in the keeper's house, became lighthouse keepers. In 1870, a new lighthouse to the north was completed along with two range lights for the entrance to the harbor.
The Old Lighthouse is not accessible in the winter (i.e. the road out to the light is never plowed), so the best shot I could get of the light was from across the harbor.
You have to look pretty closely, but across all that ice and frigid water is a very old lighthouse! Again, since this is one of the oldest surviving lighthouses in the state, I'm looking forward to visiting it someday...
But I'll definitely have to wait until things thaw a bit!
And while lighthouse visiting might not be the first thing you think to do on a winter afternoon, our little jaunt along Lake Huron certainly showed how fun it could be!!
Thanks for visiting my blog- I hope you have a great rest of your day!
