The Grays Reef Light is a lighthouse located in northeastern Lake Michigan, west of

Waugoshance Island Waugoshance Island is an island off of Waugoshance Point, in Lake Michigan. It is located in Bliss Township of Emmet County, Michigan. Waugoshance and nearby Temperance Island are part of the Wilderness State Park. The Waugoshance Light is loca ...

Bliss Township, Michigan Bliss Township is a civil township of Emmet County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the township population was 620. It was named after Governor Aaron T. Bliss. Bliss Township is the location of Wilderness State Park an ...

. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2005.

History

In the 1880s, as shipments of iron ore increased through the

Straits of Mackinac The Straits of Mackinac ( ; french: Détroit de Mackinac) are the short waterways between the U.S. state of Michigan's Upper and Lower Peninsulas, traversed by the Mackinac Bridge. The main strait is wide with a maximum depth of , and connects ...

, shippers began advocating for better lighting of the shoals in the area. In 1889,

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

appropriated $60,000 to construct three

lightvessels A lightvessel, or lightship, is a ship that acts as a lighthouse. They are used in waters that are too deep or otherwise unsuitable for lighthouse construction. Although some records exist of fire beacons being placed on ships in Roman times, ...

to be moored at Simmons Reef, White Shoals, and here at Grays Reef. The three vessels, designated LV55, LV56, and LV57, were constructed by Blythe

Craig Shipbuilding '' Light Vessel No.57'' at Toledo, Ohio Craig Shipbuilding was a shipbuilding company in Long Beach, California. To support the World War I demand for ships Craig Shipbuilding shipyard switched over to military construction and built: US N ...

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and according ...

, and were put in service in late 1891. LV57 served for every shipping season on Grays Reef until 1923, when its hull had deteriorated to a point where it was removed from service. LV103 (the Lightship ''Huron'') served on Grays reef from 1923–27, when LV56 was transferred to the station. LV56 lasted only two years until it, too deteriorated enough to be removed from service. LV103 was returned to Grays Reef for the first part of the 1929 season, and was then replaced with LV99. By this time, with improvements in underwater construction, it had become feasible to construct a permanent light station on Grays Reef, rather than depending on a moored lightvessel. In 1934, Congress approved funding for a new station. The Greiling Brothers Company was hired to construct the light station, and work began in the summer of 1934. The structure was finished in September 1936, two months behind schedule and over budget. In 1937, a radio beacon and tower was installed at the station; the tower was removed in 2010. In 1939, the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

took over operational control. The lighthouse was manned until 1976, when a solar-powered system was installed. The lighthouse now has a 12-volt DC acrylic

Tideland Signal Tideland Signal, sometimes referred to as Tidelands, was a privately held, Houston, Texas based manufacturer of marine navigational aids, with main offices in Lafayette, Louisiana, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Burgess Hill, UK, Dubai, Un ...

optic.

Description

The Grays Reef Light is built to exactly the same plan as the

Minneapolis Shoal Light The Minneapolis Shoal Light Station is a light house located in northern Green Bay, south of Peninsula Point near Big Bay de Noc, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006. History Nineteenth century shipping ...

, built at approximately the same time. The design is a modification of one created by F. P. Dillon and W. G. Will, which was used in

Conneaut, Ohio Conneaut ( ) is a city in Ashtabula County, Ohio, Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States, along Lake Erie at the mouth of Conneaut Creek northeast of Cleveland. The population was 12,841 at the 2010 Census. Conneaut is located at the far northeast ...

and

Huron, Ohio Huron is a city in Erie County, Ohio, United States. The population was 7,149 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Sandusky, Ohio Metropolitan Statistical Area. Huron Township surrounds the City of Huron. History and culture Huron Townshi ...

. The light sits on a square reinforced concrete pier, high and on a side. Atop the pier is a two-story base, high and on a side. The cellar and first floor in the base were built to house diesel generators, boilers, and compressors to provide power and heat to the light, fog signal, and keeper's quarters. The second floor of the base housed the keeper's quarters. The lighthouse tower is placed in the center of the building roof. The tower is tall, and tapers from at the base to beneath the gallery. The entire light is covered on the exterior with steel plates. The lantern atop the tower has helical

astragal An astragal is a moulding profile composed of a half-round surface surrounded by two flat planes ( fillets). An astragal is sometimes referred to as a miniature torus. It can be an architectural element used at the top or base of a column, b ...

s, and housed a red 3-1/2 order

Fresnel lens A Fresnel lens ( ; ; or ) is a type of composite compact lens developed by the French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel (1788–1827) for use in lighthouses. It has been called "the invention that saved a million ships." The design allows the c ...

References

External links

* {{authority control Lighthouses completed in 1936 Houses completed in 1936 Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan Art Deco architecture in Michigan Buildings and structures in Emmet County, Michigan National Register of Historic Places in Emmet County, Michigan