GRAND TRAVERSE LIGHTHOUSE-MICHIGAN

      
             Grand Traverse Lighthouse in 1883, note construction year on lighthouse.     Photograph courtesy National Archives

On September 28, 1850, Congress appropriated $4,000 for a lighthouse on the northern tip of Leelanau Peninsula. President Millard Fillmore signed an executive order on June 30, 1851, reserving 58.75 acres of public land for Grand Traverse Lighthouse, which was also known early on as Cat Head Lighthouse due to its proximity to Cat Head Point. Construction at the site began in late 1851, with materials being transported by schooner to the point and then being lightered ashore. A two-room dwelling with an attached kitchen and shed was built for the keeper, a position first held by David Moon, and a thirty-foot-tall, conical, brick tower was erected nearby. A fixed light, produced by six lamps and fourteen-inch reflectors, was first exhibited in September 1852, but in 1857, the light source was changed to a fourth-order Fresnel lens. Shortly after being placed in service, Grand Traverse Lighthouse was found to be poorly built and poorly situated. Located near the eastern side of the tip of the peninsula, the lighthouse was useful for vessels entering and leaving Grand Traverse Bay but wasn’t of much service to vessels on Lake Michigan. The original lighthouse was torn down and replaced in 1858 by a two-and-a-half-story dwelling, built using Milwaukee cream city brick and topped by a slate roof. The dwelling measured thirty by thirty-two feet, and one of its gable ends was adorned with a seven-foot-square wooden tower. A fifth-order Fresnel lens was used in the new lighthouse until 1870, when a fourth-order, Barbier and Finestre lens was installed. The Lighthouse Board called this upgrade “a very necessary and decided improvement.” The Lighthouse Board noted in its annual report for 1895 that a fog signal at Grand Traverse Lighthouse was “deemed necessary to navigation” and requested $5,500 for its construction. Congress allocated the funds on July 1, 1898, and contracts were let for the project on January 20, 1899. A substantial structure, built of buff, pressed brick and topped by red, metal tiles, was completed in November 1899 on the shore roughly 140 feet southwest of the lighthouse. Duplicate ten-inch steam whistles, provided by George F. Motter & Sons of York, Pennsylvania under a contract with Ellicott Company of Baltimore, Maryland, were installed in the fog signal building and placed in operation on December 20, 1899. To provide a constant supply of water for the signal, a well was sunk twenty feet west of the building. In 1933, an air diaphone, powered by air compressors driven by diesel engines, replaced the steam whistle. The most active year for the fog signal for which there are records was 1904, when it was in operation some 318 hours and consumed about 49 cords of wood. The light was electrified in 1950, increasing its intensity to 15,000 candlepower. Keepers remained at Grand Traverse Lighthouse until 1972, when the lighthouse was replaced by an automated beacon mounted atop a skeletal tower.

POINT BETSIE LIGHTHOUSE-MICHIGAN

 

 

Congress appropriated $5,000 for Point Betsie Lighthouse on March 3, 1853. A contract was let for the lighthouse in 1854, but the light was not activated until October 20, 1858. The yellow-brick lighthouse consisted of a circular, thirty-seven-foot tower connected by a passageway to a two-story dwelling. A fourth-order Fresnel lens was installed in the tower’s lantern room, where it produced a fixed white light varied by a white flash at a focal plane of fifty-three feet above the lake. Just a year after it was placed in service, the lighthouse site had to be protected from the lake, and over the years various measures were used to keep Lake Michigan at bay. In 1880, the Annual Report of the Lighthouse Board included the following paragraph, which seemed to foretell an early end to Point Bestie Lighthouse. This is one of the most important lights on Lake Michigan. The present light has never given satisfaction. The tower was built by contract in 1858 and the work was miserably done. A new tower with sufficient height to put the focal plane 100 feet above the lake should be built, and the fourth-order lens should be replaced by a third-order. An appropriation of $40,000 is recommended for this work. The Lighthouse Board repeated this request for several years, but then, “after careful consideration,” it decided in 1889 that since the light from Point Betsie already overlapped with that of South Manitou Island Lighthouse, the next light north, what was really needed at the point was a fog signal and a lens that produced a more frequent flash. The following year, a concrete apron, poured around 1873 to protect the lighthouse, was broken out and an underpinning of concrete, four feet deep, was placed beneath the tower to provide a secure foundation. A 240-foot revetment, consisting of two rows of piles driven to a depth of at least ten feet and capped with a stone-filled wooden crib, was also built along the shore in front of the lighthouse in 1890. The requested steam fog signal arrived on December 31, 1891, after an act earlier that year had provided $5,500 for its constructions, and a change in the light came on April 23, 1892, when a new fourth-order lens reduced the period between the light’s white flashes from ninety to ten seconds. The fog signal was housed in a frame building, built 120 feet north of the lighthouse and covered with corrugated iron siding and roofing. A circular iron oil house with a capacity of 300 gallons was also added to the station in 1892. The extra work needed to run the fog signal led to the assignment of an assistant keeper to Point Betsie. The living portion of the lighthouse was renovated in 1895, when an additional six rooms were added to the dwelling, allowing it to be separated into two apartments. On November 3, 1899, the dwelling and tower were painted white with red roofs to provide a better daymark for mariners. In 1912, a ten-inch chime whistle, operated by compressed air, replaced the steam fog signal plant at Point Betsie. The following year, the illumination for the light was changed to incandescent oil vapor, increasing the intensity of the light to 55,000 candlepower. The station was electrified in 1921, allowing a type “G” diaphone, which had a sound radius several times that of the air whistle, to be used. A radiobeacon was placed in commission at the station on February 28, 1927. In the fall of 1983, the Coast Guard automated Point Betsie Lighthouse and Sherwood Point Lighthouse, the last two staffed lighthouses on the Great Lakes. Coast Guard personnel continued to live at Point Betsie until the dwelling's heating system failed in 1996, prompting the Coast Guard to relocate its staff to Frankfort.  

 

Early view of Point Betsie Lighthouse
Photograph courtesy National Archives

FRANKFORT NORTH BREAKWATER LIGHTHOUSE-FRANKFORT, MICHIGAN

The Frankfort Light is a lighthouse located on the north breakwater in the harbor in Frankfort, Michigan. The current light was constructed in 1912 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. The harbor at Frankfort was first dredged in 1859. A series of improvements were begun in 1867, with piers completed in 1873. The original Frankfort North Breakwater lighthouse, an enclosed timber-framed pyramid beacon, was built in 1873 at the end of this long wooden pier with an elevated catwalk which led to the shore; the light was first lit on October 15, 1873. A fog signal was added in 1893. In 1912, a new square steel pyramidal tower was constructed on the North Pier. The light was electrified in 1919. In the 1920s, construction began on a pair of concrete breakwaters at the harbor entrance. Construction was complete by the early 1930s. With the earlier piers now rendered obsolete, plans were made to shorten them. In 1932, the 1912 lighthouse was removed from the north pier and relocated at the head of the north breakwater. The original pyramid style lighthouse was increased in size by placing it on top of a new two-story addition. In 2010, the US Coast Guard excessed the lighthouse, and in 2011 ownership was transferred to the city of Frankfort. The current breakwater light in Frankfort is located at the head of the north breakwater. It is a square steel pyramidal tower; the original 1912 lighthouse stands 44 feet (13 m) tall. The light is placed atop a 25-foot (7.6 m) tall square steel base. The cast iron lantern room, surrounded by a gallery, originally contained a fifth order Fresnel lens that was upgraded to a fourth order Fresnel lens. Other structures associated with the light include a radio beacon and a United States Coast Guard station.

MANISTEE NORTH PIERHEAD LIGHTHOUSE-MANISTEE, MICHIGAN

 

 

The present Manistee lighthouse was established in 1927. It consists of a conical cast iron tower with an overall height of 39 feet. The original optic was a fifth order Fresnel lens. A modern plastic optic is in use today with a focal plane 55 feet above water level. The raised catwalk remains intact in excellent condition.

BIG SABLE POINT LIGHTHOUSE-MICHIGAN

Lighthouse in 1914 before lantern was painted black.  Photograph courtesy Archives of Michigan

Called Grande Pointe au Sable by French explorers and traders, Big Sable Point, located roughly nine miles north of Ludington, was a prominent landmark for mariners traveling this treacherous stretch of Lake Michigan. Congress appropriated $6,000 for a lighthouse on Big Sable Point in 1856 and the Michigan Legislature ceded the necessary land the following year, but only $888 was spent before the remainder of the appropriation reverted to the treasury. Following the Civil War, the matter of a lighthouse for Big Sable was picked up again, when the Lighthouse Board noted in 1865 that the point was the most important point on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan between Pointe Betsie and Muskegon and that the “interests of commerce demand that it be suitably lighted.” Congress appropriated $35,000 for the lighthouse in July 1866 and work soon got underway at the site. A stone foundation, extending six-and-a-half feet below the ground was first prepared, and atop this a brick tower was built that tapered from a diameter of roughly nineteen feet at its base to just over thirteen feet at the lantern room. Eight circular windows provide light for the tower’s interior. The upper portion of the 112-foot tower consists of a watchroom, encircled by a gallery, and the lantern room, in which a third-order L. Sautter & Cie. Fresnel lens that produced a light with a focal plane 106 feet above water level was installed. The dwelling for the keepers was connected to the southern side of the tower by a fourteen-foot-long covered passageway. Built of Milwaukee Cream City Brick, which was also used for the tower, the one-and-a-half-story dwelling had an apartment on the ground floor for the keeper and one upstairs for the assistant keeper. Alonzo Hyde, the first head keeper, lit the tower’s lamp for the first time on November 1, 1867, sending forth a fixed white light that could be seen for up to nineteen miles. The lighthouse originally consisted of a tall conical, cream-colored tower. However, the soft-faced Milwaukee brick used in construction of the tower proved to be no match for the elements and wind-driven sand. In 1898, the brick was in bad condition.  By 1899, it was apparent that measures had to be taken to preserve the deteriorating brick in the tower. A contract to address this issue was entered into on December 14, 1899, and the following year the tower was encased in eighteen metal cylinders, with different diameters, that were placed one on top of the other. The metal had a thickness of three-eighths of an inch, and the space between the cylinders and the tower was filled with concrete. When the work was completed in June 1900, the metal tower was painted white with its middle third black. In October 1916, its current daymark was established when the color of the watchroom and lantern room was changed from white to black. The modern conveniences of electricity, provided by a diesel generator, and indoor plumbing and heating were added to the station in 1949. Power lines were extended to the point in 1953. In 1968 the tradition of light-keeping begun in 1867 ended when the station was fully automated. Coast Guard personnel left the station for good in April 1971.

LITTLE SABLE POINT LIGHTHOUSE-MICHIGAN

                                                                                    Little Sable Lighthouse in 1914 with white tower.
                                                                                                    Photograph courtesy U.S. Coast Guard

In 1871, the Lighthouse Board noted that “a simple inspection of the chart of Lake Michigan” would demonstrate that a third-order, lake-coast light was needed on the third bump, Little Sable Lighthouse. In early records, this point was referred to by its French name Petite Pointe au Sablé, which translated means Little Sand Point.  It was known by it's French name until 1910, when the official name was changed to Little Point Light Station. Complying with the Lighthouse Board’s request for funds, Congress appropriated $35,000 for the lighthouse on June 10, 1872. Over forty acres of what was public land was set aside by President Ulysses S. Grant the following month, and a working party arrived at the site the following April. The crew first built a dock for landing material and provisions followed by temporary buildings for their accommodations. By July, more than 100 piles had been driven into the sand and topped off by a timber grillage to serve as a foundation for the tower. A cofferdam was then built in the sand so that the ground water could be pumped out and cement could be poured over the grillage. With the foundation in place, work began on the brick tower, which slowly grew to a height of roughly 100 feet. Atop the tower, a decagonal lantern room was installed to house a third-order Fresnel lens, manufactured by Sautter & Co. of Paris, France. This lens was different than most in that its lower and center section were fixed, while its upper section, made up of ten bull’s-eye panels, revolved once every five minutes to produce a flash every thirty seconds. Brackets supporting the upper section of the lens were connected to a pedestal that revolved atop chariot wheels. Every eleven hours, the keepers had to wind up a ninety-pound weight that was suspended between the tower’s inner and outer walls and powered the revolving mechanism. A covered way connected the base of the tower to a twelve-room, two-and-a-half-story dwelling, built for the light’s two resident keepers. The tower and dwelling were both left their natural redbrick color. James Davenport, (a grandson of a Native American chief, Chief Waubojeeg) who was transferred from his position of assistant keeper at Waugoshance Lighthouse to be the first head keeper at Little Sable Point Lighthouse, activated the light atop the tower upon the opening of navigation in 1874. A circular iron oil house, capable of holding 360 gallons, was built 100 feet northeast of the tower in 1893, and a decade later, a brick oil house, with a metal roof and door, was added. In 1900, the tower was painted white to set it off from the surrounding dunes, and in 1911 dormers were added to the top story of the dwelling, greatly expanding its living space.  Little Sable Lighthouse was reportedly the last lighthouse on the Great Lakes using an incandescent oil vapor lamp. Little Sable Lighthouse retained its keeper until 1954, one year after the station was electrified and automated.  Henry Vavrina, who had been head keeper of the lighthouse since 1939, transferred to Big Sable Lighthouse, where he served another decade before retiring. No longer needed, the handsome brick dwelling was torn down in 1958, leaving the tower alone on the beach. A land exchange between the U.S. Federal Government and the State of Michigan was approved in 1973. Michigan received the deed to the lighthouse and land in 1974.  The Coast Guard had the tower was sandblasted in 1976 to eliminate the need for regular painting. The Sable Points Lighthouses Keepers' Association received a lease from the State of Michigan in 2005.

WHITE RIVER LIGHTHOUSE-MICHIGAN

GRAND HAVEN LIGHTHOUSE, GRAND HAVEN, MICHIGAN