-- AU SABLE POINT LIGHTHOUSE --
Lake Superior
Built 1874 • Height 86 feet • 3rd order lens

Originally called the Big Sable Lighthouse (after the nearby sand dunes), it was built in 1874. It received its current name in 1910, possibly to to prevent confusion with another lighthouse of the same name on Lake Michigan. In 1913, the intensity of the light was increased from 1,200 to 28,000 candlepower by changing the old oil-burning lamps to an incandescent oil vapor system which pressurized kerosene. It was automated in 1958 and became part of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in 1968.

In the keeper's house museum

-- GRAND MARAIS HARBOR OF REFUGE INNER LIGHTHOUSE --
Lake Superior
Built 1898 • Height 55 feet • 5th order lens

The Harbor of Refuge Inner Lighthouse is one of a pair of lighthouses built on the west pier at the entry to Grand Marais Harbor of Refuge. In the 1870s, shipping traffic began to drastically increase in Lake Superior. So in 1881, the harbor at Grand Marais was upgraded. A shipping canal was dredged and a 5,770-foot breakwater was constructed. It was decided that navigation into the harbor would be much safer with a pair of lights. In 1895, a prefabricated, 34-foot, cast-iron light was placed at the outer end of the pier. A 55-foot-tall inner or rear range light was added in 1898. This one still retains its 5th order Fresnel lens while the outer range light has been replaced with a modern acrylic lens.

-- OLD MACKINAC POINT LIGHTHOUSE --
Straits of Mackinac (junction of Lakes Michigan and Huron)
Built 1892 • Height 50 feet • 4th order lens

Originally a lighthouse was built in 1869 at McGulpin Point near the town of Mackinaw to mark the narrowest part of the Straits of Mackinac. In 1892, another lighthouse was built on Old Mackinac Point, just east of Fort Michilmackinac, to be more visible to vessels approaching form either direction. It was given a 4th order revolving lens powered by a clockwork mechanism that had to be wound up every three hours. 1913, the incandescent-oil-vapor lamp was upgraded to one that burned kerosene, and the light’s candlepower increased from 1,100 to 26,000. It was especially important to railroad car ferries such as the SS Chief Wawatam which operated between Mackinaw City and St. Ignace. In 1929, it was changed to electricity. It was deactivated in 1957 due to the completion of the Mackinac Bridge, which when lighted at night became a much better aid to navigation. The lighthouse was incorporated into a state park in 1960.

The stairs up ... The museum contained the 4th order lens used here from 1892 to 1957.

A rotating lens ... Although the light never actually went dark, it appeared that way to sailors who could only see the quick flash of light when it hit the bullseye of the lens.

-- ROUND ISLAND PASSAGE LIGHT --

Straits of Mackinac (Lake Huron)
Built 1948 • Height 41.5 feet

The Round Island Passage Light, located in the Round Island Channel in the Straits of Mackinac, is an unmanned lighthouse built in 1948. Underwater power cables were run from a control house at the southern tip on Mackinac Island. It was equipped with a beacon light, fog signal and radiobeacon. It was built at the same time that the main lighthouse was deactivated. The red color was added in 1968 and it was completely automated in 1973.

-- MARQUETTE HARBOR LIGHTHOUSE --
Lake Superior
Built 1853 (rebuilt 1866) • Height 40 feet • 4th order lens

The discovery of iron deposits just west of the town in 1844 led to the development of the area. Its importance earned it a lighthouse in 1853, even before the opening of the Soo Locks in 1855 which multiplied the shipping traffic on the lake.The 26-foot-tall stone tower received a 6th order Fresnel lens in 1856 to replace the array of lamps and reflector. Unfortunately due to the extreme weather of the area, it had to be rebuilt in 1866. In 1870, a 4th order lens (that illuminated an arc of 270 degrees) replaced the previous lens, which had an arc of just 180 degrees. It was electrified in 1921 and painted red in 1965.

The front catwalk ... The current lens is a DCB-36 Aerobeacon.

In the 1880s, fog signal buildings were placed at a lower elevation nearer the lake. They were linked to the main dwelling by an elevated walkway called a catwalk. This protected keepers from being swept away by dangerous waves and high winds during storms.

The historic catwalk ... Inside the lighthouse

The original 4th order lens was on display at the museum

-- PRESQUE ISLE HARBOR BREAKWATER LIGHT (Marquette) --
Lake Superior
Built 1941 • Height 55 feet

Between 1897 and 1902, the US Army Corps of Engineers built a 1,216-foot breakwater to reduce the force of wind and waves in Presque Isle Harbor (also known as Marquette Bay or the Upper Harbor). In 1935, the extended it another 1,600 feet. The Presque Isle Harbor Breakwater Light was added to the end of it in 1941. The automated steel tower rests upon a concrete base.

-- GRAND ISLAND EAST CHANNEL LIGHTHOUSE (Munising) --
Lake Superior
Built 1868 • Height 45 feet • 5th order lens

There was already a lighthouse on the northern tip of Grand Island in 1856 but an another one was needed at the southern end as well. In 1868, the wooden Grand Island East Channel Lighthouse was built atop a stone foundation. It was upgraded to a 5th order lens in 1869. In 1908, it was deemed no longer necessary. Renovations began in 2000. Volunteers collected over 150 tons of rocks to fill wire cages for shore protection. The building was lifted off its foundation, one side at a time, to replace rotted timber. Finally the lantern room was restored with a new copper roof.

-- STURGEON POINT LIGHTHOUSE --
Lake Huron
Built 1870 • Height 71 feet • 3 1/2 order lens

Built in 1870, the Sturgeon Point Lighthouse tower stands nearly 71 feet tall. A covered passageway connects the tower to the keeper's house. A spiral stairway leads up the cast-iron lantern room, which came from a lighthouse in Oswego, New York. Originally a 3.5 order Fresnel lens was used and could be seen for up to 15 miles. The lens was somehow damaged in 1887 and new one was installed. It was automated in 1939.

The stairs up ... the empty lens

The lens is still in the tower but is no longer in operation. The Coast Guard monitors a LED light to assist recreational watercraft.

(right) The LED light behind me

-- WAWATAM LIGHTHOUSE --
Lake Huron (Straits of Mackinac)
Built 1998 (originally for tourist welcome center) • Height 52 feet

The Wawatam Lighthouse was built in 1998 as a nonfunctional, steel tower for the Michigan Welcome Center in Monroe, greeting visitors entering the state. When the center underwent renovations in 2004, however, the red, white, and green lighthouse needed to find a new home. It was broken down into five pieces and trucked to the Chief Wawatam Dock in St. Ignace. It was painted white and given a new platform. It was given a modern 4th order lens with a visibility of 13 miles, and then certified by the US Coast Guard in 2006. Even in winter, its light guides snowmobilers and Coast Guard ice breakers across the frozen waters.

The SS Chief Wawatam was a railroad ferry boat that operated from this dock from 1911 to 1984. The railroad pier was originally built in the 1800s to shuttle railroad cars across the Straits of Mackinac. In 1911, the 338-foot-long SS Chief Wawatam started performing this duty. It could carry as many as 28 rail cars per trip between St. Ignace and Mackinaw City. It was named in honor of a 1700s leader of the Odawa clan. The dock collapsed in 1984 and the ferry era ended.

An old stretch of railroad tracks ... the dock

Big ... and small navigational tools

-- WHITEFISH POINT LIGHTHOUSE --
Lake Superior
Built 1849 (rebuilt 1861, oldest working lighthouse in the Upper Peninsula) • Height 78 feet • 3rd order lens

Work on the Whitefish Point Lighthouse began in 1848. The 42-foot tower held an array of 13 lamps set in 14-inch reflectors. A 4th order lens was installed in 1857. A mere two years later, a new lighthouse was requested. The 78-foot, iron-pile lighthouse was finished in 1861. In 1895, its color was changed from brown to white in order to serve as a more prominent landmark during daylight hours.

In 1996, the keeper’s quarters, lighthouse, fog signal building, and oil houses as well as the Coast Guard lifeboat station, crews quarters, surfboat house, and lookout tower were all restored.

A light-emitting diode lantern was installed in 2011, with a range of 17 miles (15 nautical miles). ... In the museum is a massive, 9-foot diameter, 3,500 pound, 2nd order Fresnel lens as well as the bell recovered in 1995 from the SS Edmund Fitzgerald shipwreck in 1975.