The Ludington Light is a tall steel-plated

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

Ludington, Michigan Ludington ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Mason County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 8,076. Ludington is a harbor town located on Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Pere Marquette Rive ...

, which lies along the eastern shores of

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...

, at the end of the

breakwater Breakwater may refer to: * Breakwater (structure), a structure for protecting a beach or harbour Places * Breakwater, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia * Breakwater Island Breakwater Island () is a small island in the Palme ...

on the Pere Marquette Harbor. Given its location on the northern breakwater where the

Pere Marquette River The Pere Marquette River is a river in Michigan in the United States. The main stream of this river is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed November 21, 2011 running fro ...

meets

, it is sometimes known as the Ludington North Breakwater Light. Underlying the building itself is a

prow The bow () is the forward part of the hull of a ship or boat, the point that is usually most forward when the vessel is underway. The aft end of the boat is the stern. Prow may be used as a synonym for bow or it may mean the forward-most part ...

-like structure, which is designed to break waves.

History

The station was established in 1871. This light was first lit in 1924, and it is presently operational. It was automated in 1972. The light is structurally integrated into the steel and reinforced concrete pier upon which it is built. It has a square pyramidal form, and is white with a black lantern. The original lens was a Fourth 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 ...

. On October 17, 1995 the

was removed from the lantern. It was replaced by a

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 ...

ML-300 acrylic optic. The original lens was loaned to Historic White Pine Village where it is displayed as part of their maritime history exhibit. A

fog signal A foghorn or fog signal is a device that uses sound to warn vehicles of navigational hazards such as rocky coastlines, or boats of the presence of other vessels, in foggy conditions. The term is most often used in relation to marine transport. W ...

building is integrated into the tower. It originally had a Type F

Diaphone The diaphone is a noisemaking device best known for its use as a foghorn: It can produce deep, powerful tones, able to carry a long distance. Although they have fallen out of favor, diaphones were also used at some fire stations and in other situ ...

signal, and a FA-232 is now in operation. A

radio beacon In navigation, a radio beacon or radiobeacon is a kind of beacon, a device that marks a fixed location and allows direction-finding equipment to find relative bearing. But instead of employing visible light, radio beacons transmit electromagnet ...

is also in place and operational. In 2006, the Ludington Breakwater Lighthouse was opened to the public for the first time in its history. The Coast Guard transferred ownership to the City of Ludington under the terms of the

National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act The National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000 (NHLPA; Public Law 106-355; 16 U.S.C. 470w-7) is American legislation creating a process for the transfer of federally owned lighthouses into private hands. It was created as an extension o ...

. The lighthouse is being operated and maintained in partnership with the Sable Points Lighthouse Keepers Association, which is a volunteer group that maintains, restores and operates this light, the

Big Sable Point Light The Big Sable Point Light is a lighthouse on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan near Ludington in Mason County, Michigan, at the Ludington State Park. It is an active aid to navigation.

house and the Little Sable Point Lighthouse. The lighthouse is open to the public during the summer season for climbing tours.

References

Bibliography on Michigan lighthouses.
* Crompton, Samuel Willard & Michael J. Rhein, ''The Ultimate Book of Lighthouses'' (2002) ; . * Hyde, Charles K., and Ann and John Mahan. ''The Northern Lights: Lighthouses of the Upper Great Lakes.'' Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1995. . * Jones, Ray & Bruce Roberts, ''American Lighthouses'' (Globe Pequot, September 1, 1998, 1st Ed.) ; . * Jones, Ray,''The Lighthouse Encyclopedia, The Definitive Reference'' (Globe Pequot, January 1, 2004, 1st ed.) ; . * Noble, Dennis, ''Lighthouses & Keepers: U. S. Lighthouse Service and Its Legacy'' (Annapolis: U. S. Naval Institute Press, 1997). ; . * Oleszewski, Wes, ''Great Lakes Lighthouses, American and Canadian: A Comprehensive Directory/Guide to Great Lakes Lighthouses'', (Gwinn, Michigan: Avery Color Studios, Inc., 1998) . * Penrod, John, ''Lighthouses of Michigan'', (Berrien Center, Michigan: Penrod/Hiawatha, 1998) . * * Putnam, George R., ''Lighthouses and Lightships of the United States'', (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1933). * United States Coast Guard, ''Aids to Navigation'', (Washington, DC: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1945). * * * Wagner, John L., ''Michigan Lighthouses: An Aerial Photographic Perspective'', (East Lansing, Michigan: John L. Wagner, 1998) . * Wargin, Ed, ''Legends of Light: A Michigan Lighthouse Portfolio'' (Ann Arbor Media Group, 2006). . * Wright, Larry and Wright, Patricia, ''Great Lakes Lighthouses Encyclopedia'' Hardback (Erin: Boston Mills Press, 2006) {{authority control Lighthouses completed in 1871 Lighthouses completed in 1924 Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan National Register of Historic Places in Mason County, Michigan

History

See also

References

Further reading