Continued from Part IV:
On Friday, 08/11/06 we drove the rental car and photographed 7 lighthouses in MI:
Sturgeon Point, MI: Built in 1867, its 3½-Order Fresnel lens (originally in the Oswego, NY Lighthouse) was not put into full use until 1870. Rapid advancements in the application of acetylene for lighthouse illumination at the turn of the 20th Century, coupled with the invention of the sun valve, automating a number of Great Lakes lights occurred. Using this method, this light was automated in 1913, Charity Island Light had been done in 1907, and, as indicated above, Sand Point (Baraga) was done in 1922 The light was electrified with the installation of an incandescent bulb in the lens in 1939 and, although Coast Guardsmen continued to tend the light for a few years thereafter, the station’s importance waned, and the last crew left the station in 1941.
The wooden structures of the Lifesaving station located at the south of the lighthouse reservation deteriorated and were subsequently destroyed. The lighthouse dwelling and tower were vandalized, but their sturdy brick construction limited the damages to windows, doors, and interior walls and woodwork. The Alcona Historical Society obtained a lease to the lighthouse structures in 1982 and began an intensive 3-year volunteer restoration project. The dwelling now serves as a maritime museum and is open to the public from Memorial Day to mid-September. The grounds are open all year.
Sturgeon Point LIghthouse Door Covering: The cover on this door to the keeper’s dwelling was used in constructing temporary airfield runways during World War II by the U.S. Military. Called “Marston Mattig,” this linking mechanism on the sides and middle were used to link large strips together. When questioned, the gift shop clerk indicated that the cover is not original to the lighthouse–it was installed during the restoration to thwart vandals and their attempts to access the interior.
Alpena Harbor, MI: Located at the entrance of Thunder Bay River in Alpena Harbor, the present lighthouse was built in 1914 and is a skeletal steel-framed tower; structure supports a round steel watch room. The tower’s focal plane is 65' above the water level. Its original 4th-Order optic has been replaced by a 190 mm plastic lens. This is the third lighthouse at this location. The original 1877 wooden tower burned in a fire that started in a nearby sawmill in July of 1888. A replacement wooden tower was built by October of 1888 and that structure served for several decades until it deteriorated and was replaced by the 1914, 38' tall tower seen here. The light was automated in 1974 and the 4th-Order Fresnel lens replaced with a modern beacon around 1987. The lens is located at the Grand Traverse Lighthouse.
Presque Isle Harbor Front Range, MI: Established in 1870, this light was moved to its current location at the entrance to the Old Presque Isle Lighthouse Park property and a steel pole with day marker now marks its place on the water’s edge. Constructed of wood standing on top of a limestone foundation, its original markings were white with red trim. These range lights are almost identical to Bailey’s Harbor Range Lights on Lake Michigan and Copper Harbor Range Lights on Lake Superior. Octagonal in shape, the front range light stands 15' high and had a 5th-order Fresnel lens with a range of 11 miles.
Presque Isle Harbor Rear Range, MI: Established in 1870, this private residence (Stan asked permission to take photographs from the owner) is located across the street from its front range light at 1728 Range Light Lane. It is a square tower that is integral with the keeper’s dwelling and was approximately 800' behind the Front Range Light’s original location. Its tower stands 35' tall with a range of 11 miles.
With the installation of two modern range lights in the 1960s, the original lights were taken out of service. The new system provides mariners with a 274° lighted range guiding them through shoals extending north off North Albany Point and a shoal extending 0.6 miles east from the south end of Presque Isle.
Presque Isle (Old), MI: Completed in 1840, this 30' tall, 18' in diameter at base, and 9' in diameter at top tower was discontinued in 1871, replaced by Presque Isle (New) Lighthouse. Unusual construction, bottom is stone and conical in shape, top is brick and round. A fixed white 4th-order Fresnel lens replaced what is thought to have been the old birdcage-style lantern by an octagonal cast iron lantern in 1857--customary in upgrades of this type.
Plans to completely rebuild the deteriorated keeper’s dwelling were shelved when a completely different solution for the lighting of Presque Isle was suggested by the Lighthouse Board in its 1868 annual report. It was observed that the combination of the tower’s location and diminutive height allowed it to function only as a harbor light. An improved solution for this important area would be to construct a larger light at the tip of the peninsula approximately a mile to the north, and a pair of range lights to guide vessels into the harbor itself. Construction of these new lights would render the old station obsolete and it could be extinguished and abandoned.
The old station’s lens and lantern were removed from the tower and shipped to the Detroit depot for use elsewhere. With the removal of the lantern, the tower was left uncapped and the windows and doors to the structures boarded-up to stand empty and decaying for 26 years until 1897 when they were sold at public auction to a resident of Alpena, MI. The property was sold at a tax sale for $70 soon after the turn of the 20th Century and sold again in 1930. Used as a summer cottage for his family, the owner rebuilt the dwelling in 1939 in a style similar to that of an old English cottage. The owner purchased a larger summer home nearby and used the cottage by the lighthouse as a guest house. Numerous requests for tours of the old light station made the owner realize that converting the property into a museum might be a financially rewarding opportunity and he began refurbishing the old tower. It had a considerable amount of water damage as a result of being uncapped for 70 years, but he completed the task by installation of a replica octagonal iron lantern in 1957. The completed lantern was hoisted on top of the tower and a 4th-Order Fresnel lens with twin bulls eyes and brass occulting panels purchased at a Coast Guard auction in the early 1950s was installed in the lantern. The old English cottage with furnished with mid-19th Century items. Electricity came to the station in 1965 and the owner reactivated the light in the tower. However, the Coast Guard would not provide permission for its continued display as a private aid, and the clockwork rotating mechanism was removed from beneath the lens.
Increasing taxes and insurance costs caused the family to sell the property to the State of Michigan to be incorporated into the State Park. Still operating as a museum, the museum is open 7 days a week.
Presque Isle (New), MI: Located 1 mile south of “Old Presque Isle” light, this tower (113') looks similar to Tawas Point (77') and Sturgeon Point (68') but is much taller. Construction began in 1870 and the massive 3rd-Order Fresnel lens was lit at the opening of the 1871 navigation season. Automated in 1971, the station was boarded up and abandoned. The structures were eventually leased to Presque Isle Park in the 1970s to serve as a public park and maritime museum. The Coast Guard transferred the deed to the property over to the County in 1998.
Forty Mile Point, MI: Located 40 miles SE of Old Mackinac Point Light and 40 miles NW of Thunder Bay. Work began in August of 1894 and was completed in November of 1896. The 4th-Order Fresnel lens with six bulls eye panels was first exhibited in May of 1897 and is still in operation at the site. Structure is a brick duplex attached to a 52' high tower; the keeper and his family resided on one side of the house, the assistant and his family on the other side. Existing structures include the oil house, two privies, a fog signal building, and a barn. The barn was the first structure to be built and was used to house the workers while the light was being constructed. Buildings no longer in existence include a boathouse that was located on the beach in front of the fog signal building and a windmill.
Moves to Part VI. . . .
