The Michigan Island Lighthouse is a lighthouse operated by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

and located on Michigan Island on western

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.

History

Two historical lighthouses have served as the Michigan Island light. The older was constructed in 1857, but not activated until 1869. It served until 1929, when it was replaced by a taller, skeletal tower, which is still operational. The 3½-order Fresnel lens, coupled with a 24,000-candela electric light and the focal plane (aided by its placement on a cliff) aided by the tower's location atop the cliff, made the light range of visibility to a "remarkable 22 miles."Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light, Michigan Island Light (New).
/ref> This was a relative rarity, being one of only a dozen used around the country, most of which were on the Great Lakes,
/ref> These lights were typically reserved for places that were an especially serious hazard to navigation. ''See, for example,'' Sturgeon Point Light. Other Great Lakes lights that had 3½-order Fresnel lenses were at (in alphabetical order): DeTour Reef, Eagle Bluff, Grays Reef, Huron Island, St. Helena Island, and Toledo Harbor. In 1972, the original Fresnel lens was replaced with a

DCB-224 An aerobeacon is a light assembly used to create a fixed or flashing signal visible over long distances. It consists of a high intensity electric lamp mounted with a focusing device in a cylindrical housing, which usually is rotated on a vertical ...

aero beacon An aerodrome beacon or rotating beacon or aeronautical beacon is a beacon installed at an airport or aerodrome to indicate its location to aircraft pilots at night. An aerodrome beacon is mounted on top of a towering structure, often a control ...

manufactured by the

Carlisle & Finch Carlisle & Finch is a manufacturer of nautical equipment founded in 1893 or 1894 in Cincinnati, Ohio, where, , it still has its headquarters. The company's main products through its entire history have been searchlights, mostly for marine applic ...

Company. In turn, that was replaced by the

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 restored Fresnel lens is on display at the visitor center of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in Bayfield. The structure shares its design with towers at

Rawley Point Light Rawley Point Light (also known as Twin River Point Light) is a lighthouse located in Point Beach State Forest, near Two Rivers, Wisconsin. At tall, it is the tallest lighthouse on the Wisconsin Shore and it is listed on the National Register of ...

on Lake Michigan and Whitefish Point Light at Lake Superior's eastern end. However, the Michigan Island tower has a small brick building located at the base of the center tube, apparently a workroom for the early lighthouse keepers.

Status

Currently owned by the

and part of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, it is a

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distri ...

of the

Apostle Islands Lighthouses There are several historic lighthouses on Lake Superior on or near the Apostle Islands in Wisconsin. Six of these lighthouses, all in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, were listed as a group on the National Register of Historic Places in 197 ...

, added to 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 1977. It is also listed in the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

Historic American Buildings Survey Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...

, WI-317 (A-C).

Transportation

Most of the Apostle Islands light stations can be reached on the Apostle Islands Cruise Service water taxi or by private boat during the summer. During the Annual Apostle Island Lighthouse Celebration, a ferry tour service is available for all the lighthouses. During the tourist season, volunteer park rangers are on many of the islands to greet visitors.Wobser, David
La Pointe Light
, Boatnerd Originally in ''Great Laker Magazine'' File:USCGmichiganislandlight.JPG,

U.S. 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, multi ...

archive photo File:Mich2000.jpg, The original Michigan Island light File:Michigan Island Lighthouse Lens.JPG, Original Michigan Island lighthouse lens, on display at the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore office in Bayfield

References

External links

Aerial photos of Michigan Island Light, Marina.com.

Old tower Lighthouse friends article.
{{authority control Lighthouses completed in 1857 Lighthouses completed in 1929 Apostle Islands National Lakeshore Lighthouses in Ashland County, Wisconsin Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin National Register of Historic Places in Ashland County, Wisconsin 1857 establishments in Wisconsin

History

Status

Transportation

See also

References

Further reading

External links