Michigan - Peninsula Point Lighthouse

The Peninsula Point Lighthouse is located in the Hiawatha National Forest at Rapid River, MI by Lake Michigan. It was built in 1865 and included this forty foot brick tower with keepers quarters attached. This lighthouse was deactivated in 1936. I visited the lighthouse in 1998 and saw remains of the house's foundation.

This is a picture I took at the the Hiawatha National Forest. It shows a likeness of the original Peninsula Point Lighthouse, and tells of the fire that destroyed the keepers quarters in 1959. It also mentions three landmarks that can be seen from the top of the tower. One of those landmarks is shown below.

 This is a picture of the above referenced Minneapolis Shoal Lighthouse. I was able to take this picture using a 500 mm lens with a 2X coupler. Although the picture is not quality, I was happy to get it because the lighthouse is about ten miles off shore. This lighthouse was built in 1935 to replace the Peninsula Point Lighthouse.

Michigan - Cheboygan River Front Range Lighthouse

The Cheboygan River Front Range Lighthouse was built in 1880. Its rectangular tower stands forty feet high and rises above the roof line of the white two story keepers house. It is located near the marina on the Cheboygan River. I visited this lighthouse in 1998. It is one of many Michigan lighthouses built to aid ships into the town's harbor so lumber and other local resources could be shipped.

Michigan - McGulpin Point Lighthouse

The McGulpin Point Lighthouse is located at Mackinaw, MI. It was built in 1869 and constructed of Cream City Brick. The octagonal shape tower stood 38 feet high. This lighthouse was deactivated in 1906. At the time of my visit in 1998 the lighthouse was a private residence and closed to the public.

Michigan - Alpena Lighthouse

The Alpena Lighthouse is located on the North East side of the entrance to Thunder Bay River and Lake Huron. The original lighthouse was built in 1875 and constructed of wood. It was replaced in 1914 by this 80 foot steel framed tower which was painted red at the time of my visit in 1998. The lighthouse was not open to the public. Due to my position to the sun when I took this picture, the red tower does not vividly show. The locals referred to this automated lighthouse as "Little Red".

Michigan - Round Island Lighthouse

The Round Island Lighthouse was built in 1895, and is perched at the end of a sandy point which reaches out from Round Island into the Straits of Mackinac. The lighthouse faces across the lake toward Mackinac Island. In the mid 1980's this lighthouse received a major restoration to preserve it. It is only reachable in the summertime by boat and wintertime by snowmobile across the frozen lake. At the time of my visit in 1998, I recall my first look at this lighthouse and thinking the white framed house looked out of place against all the brick.

Michigan - Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse

This lighthouse was built in 1892 by the Straits of Mackinac at Mackinaw City, MI. Its light was visible for sixteen miles and remained in service through 1957. The round brick tower is six feet in diameter and forty feet tall. It is attached to a two-story rectangular keeper's dwelling. After the Mackinac Bridge was built in 1957 the mariners used the lights on the bridge to guide their ships, thus making the lighthouse obsolete. At the time of my visit to this lighthouse in 1998, it served as a museum under the care of the Mackinac Island Park Commission.

Michigan - Forty Mile Point Lighthouse

The Forty Mile Point Lighthouse was built in 1896 of red brick. The two dwellings in this two-story lighthouse "mirror-image" each other. They are 35 feet x 57 feet, and attached between them is the 12 foot square tower which stands 52 feet high. The tower is topped by an octagonal cast iron lantern. Each of the dwellings in the house consists of three bedrooms and a bath on the second floor. The kitchen, dining room, living room, hallway and an entry to the tower are located on the main floor. The basement has an interior and exterior access. The house is built on a 20 inch thick foundation with walls composed of two parallel brick panels separated by dead-air space which provides the only insulation.
At the time of my visit in 1998, the original fourth order Fresnel lens with six bull's eye panels had a focal plane of 66 feet above the water level of Lake Huron.

Michigan - Presque Isle Lighthouse

This lighthouse is located on Presque Isle, MI by Lake Huron. The name Presque Isle means "almost an island" in French. It is a small peninsula which has provided mariners with one of the best harbors of refuge between Port Huron and Michilimackinac (Regional name for area around Straits of Mackinac). The lighthouse was built in 1870 as a taller replacement for the "Old Presque Isle Lighthouse which was still in existence at the time of my visit there in 1998. The old lighthouse is located about one mile to the north of this one and was made into a museum. This new light has a conical tower that stands 113 feet high and produces a lens focal plane of 123 feet above the level of Lake Huron. The Coast Guard automated this lighthouse in 1970 and it continues to guide mariners. The original lens was still working in the lantern room at the time of my 1998 visit. The house attached to the tower was the dwelling for the Assistant Keeper and his family, and the house in the foreground was for the Head Keeper and his family.