In 1892, lighthouses were completed at Seul Choix Point and on Squaw Island to mark the northern route for vessels sailing between Lake Huron and Green Bay. The Lighthouse Board felt that another light was needed to mark this important passage, and provided the following reasoning in its request for $32,000 for the project. The establishment of the Lake Michigan light and fog-signal vessels, Squaw Island light and fog signal, Seul Choix Pointe light, and the additional buoyage authorized in the northern part of Lake Michigan has made those waters reasonably safe for navigation on the route from the Straits of Mackinac to Green Bay ports, with the exception of a stretch of 45 miles between Seul Choix Pointe and Poverty Island. Pointe aux Barques is a prominent headland 24 ½ miles northeast one-half north from Poverty Island light, and 23 miles west-southwest from Seul Choix Pointe light. Poverty Island light is visible 16 3/4 miles and Seul Choix Pointe is visible 15 miles. There is, therefore, a spate of 13 3/4 miles off Pointe aux Barques not covered by any light. The town of Manistique, situated at the mouth of Manistique River, at the head of the bay between Seul Choix and Pointe aux Barques, has a large lumber trade and many vessels call at that port. The route north of the Beavers and along the coast down to Poverty Island passage into Green Bay is the usual route of the ore vessels to and from Lake Erie ports in northwest winds, and the shipments of ore this year from Escanaba are largely in excess, it is said, of those of any port in the world. The Board recommends that a coast light and fog signal be established on Pointe aux Barques, Lake Michigan, Michigan. The Garden Peninsula extends twenty-two miles into Lake Michigan from Manistique and is bordered by Lake Michigan on its east and Big Bay de Noc on the west. Poverty Island Lighthouse is located off the peninsula’s southern tip, and Point aux Barques is a prominent feature on the peninsula’s eastern shore. Though the construction of the lighthouse on Point aux Barques was authorized, funds for its construction were never provided. A lighthouse was finally built in the gap between Poverty Island and Seul Choix Point, but this did not occur until after federal harbor improvements were completed at Manistique. A 423-foot-long breakwater built by private parties and owned by the Chicago Lumbering Company helped protect the harbor at Manistique, but this was turned over to the federal government, and between 1910 and 1915, two breakwaters were built at the mouth of the river, forming an enclosed basin with an area of thirty-one acres. In the early 1900s, car ferries began operating out of Manistique, linking its railroad to the ports at Northport and Frankfort on the Lower Peninsula. A temporary fixed red light of forty-five candlepower was suspended from a pole to mark the west end of the newly completed east breakwater in 1912, and that same year the Lighthouse Board asked for $20,000 for a permanent light, fog signal, and keepers dwelling. Congress provided the requested amount on October 22, 1913, allowing work to being the following year. A twenty-five-foot, steel, skeletal tower, surmounted by a flashing acetylene light, was established on the west breakwater on October 30, 1914. Also in 1914, a concrete foundation was poured for the permanent east breakwater light, and work began on the keepers dwelling. The east breakwater light was transferred to the new structure on August 17, 1916. The following description of this light, known as Manistique Lighthouse, was published by the Bureau of Lighthouses. The subfoundation for this tower consists of a timber crib built by the United States Engineers. It rests on bedrock and supports a concrete superstructure, and this in turn supports a rectangular concrete block, 20 by 25 feet in plan and 6 feet high, forming the immediate foundation for the tower. The top of this block is 10 feet above lake level. The tower is of riveted steel plates and angles, square in plan and pyramidal in shape, three and one-half stories high, and supports a cast-iron deck and an old-style fourth-order vertical bar lantern, whose focal plane is about 40 feet above the top of the block. The main floor is 5 1/2 feet above the block and contains the machinery for the fog signal. Below it and partly within the block is a basement room for storage purposes. Above it the second floor supports the air tanks and the third floor the diaphone and attachments. All floors are of reinforced concrete, and the basement and power room are lined with surfaced cement with air spaces next to the steel plates. The two upper rooms are not lined. A 300-millimeter lens lantern was used to produce a fixed red light of 340 candlepower at a focal plane of five feet above the lake. A 200-watt, gas-filled, tungsten-filament electric bulb, powered by an electric cable that along the breakwater to the lighthouse from a switch house, was used in the lens lantern and could be activated from the keepers dwelling using a push-button. A fourth-order lens replaced the lens lantern in 1918, increasing the intensity of the light. A radiobeacon was established at the station at the opening of navigation in 1931 as an additional aid for mariners. Both the railroad and its car ferry at Manistique ceased operation in 1968, and with the decrease in shipping, Manistique Lighthouse was automated the following year. The keepers dwelling was sold, and the fourth-order lens was removed from the tower. The lens can currently be seen at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc.
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