Pointe aux Barques Lighthouse ( ) is an active

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 ...

located in Huron County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located along the shores of

Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrology, Hydrologically, it comprises the easterly portion of Lake Michigan–Huron, having the same surface elevation as Lake Michigan, to which it is connected by the , Strait ...

on the northeastern tip of

the Thumb The Thumb is a region and a peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan, so named because the Lower Peninsula is shaped like a mitten. The Thumb area is generally considered to be in the Central Michigan region, east of the Tri-Cities and north of M ...

. Originally constructed in 1848, it is one of the oldest active lighthouses in the state. The name is translated as "point of little boats" from the French language, which refers to the shallow coastline that poses a threat to larger boats.

History

In the mid-19th century most travel was by sailing vessel. There were few or no roads, and only a few steamships were operating on the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

. Navigation was still primitive by today's standards. Vessels followed the coastline of the lakes until there was a need to cross a large body of water, and then a compass and sextant were the major navigation tools. Sailing schooners left

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

and the

St. Clair River The St. Clair River (french: Rivière Sainte-Claire) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed November 7, 2011 river in central North America which flows from Lake Huron int ...

and soon left the sight of the 1825

Fort Gratiot Light Fort Gratiot Light , the first lighthouse in the state of Michigan, was constructed north of Fort Gratiot in 1829 by Lucius Lyon, who later became one of Michigan's first U.S. Senators. The Fort Gratiot Light marks the entrance to the St. Clair ...

and began the perilous trip north along the

shore. The next light to the north was located at

Thunder Bay Island Thunder Bay Island is a island in Lake Huron. The island is one of eight constituent islands of the Michigan Islands National Wildlife Refuge. The island is part of Alpena Township in Alpena County. It marks the entrance to Thunder Bay, the h ...

(1832), more than north of

Fort Gratiot Fort Gratiot was an American stockade fort in Fort Gratiot, Michigan, in Saint Clair County, Michigan. The former location of the fort was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. History The Army constructed Fort Gratiot in ...

. Any vessel sailing up the

coast stood a good chance of running aground on the reef extending out from Pointe aux Barques. The reef is only covered by some two feet of water and stuck out nearly two miles into Lake Huron. Pointe aux Barques was also used as a turning point for vessels destined to the

Saginaw River The Saginaw River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed November 7, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is formed by the confluence of the Tittabawassee and Sh ...

. A lighthouse had been established at the mouth of the

as early as 1841, but the trip to

Saginaw Bay Saginaw Bay is a bay within Lake Huron located on the eastern side of the U.S. state of Michigan. It forms the space between Michigan's Thumb region and the rest of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. Saginaw Bay is in area. It is located in part ...

required steering clear of Pointe aux Barques reef. The lighthouse was intended to be constructed near the Thumb's most northwestern point at Pointe Aux Barques however it was ultimately constructed approximately east / southeast in what is now Huron Township. President James K. Polk appropriated $5,000 to build the first lighthouse structure on July 3, 1847. The first keeper, Peter Shook, and his family moved in in 1848. In 1849 the keeper's dwelling burned to the ground. The first light tower was built on this location in 1847, at a cost of $5,000. It was first lit for the 1848 shipping season. The tower was poorly constructed and needed to be replaced after only 10 years. The present 1857 light is a conical white brick tower, tall, with a focal plane of above Lake Huron. A rotating Third 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 ...

provided a flash every two minutes visible as far as out on the lake. The tower is attached to a 2-story, brick keeper's dwelling by a matching brick passageway. The new taller light tower helped guide vessels away from the hazardous reef, but wrecks continued to occur. In 1875 a United States Life Saving Service station was built just south of the lighthouse. An assistant keeper's house was added in 1908, and the light was upgraded to an incandescent vapor lamp in 1914. The change increased the lights range to over the lake, and further protection was added in 1918 with the addition of a lighted, bell buoy some two and a quarter miles off shore at the end of the point. Electrification came to Point aux Barques in 1932 and the incandescent light bulb in the Third Order lens with bull's-eyes provided an output of 120,000 candlepower. The

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...

assumed responsibility for the nation's aids to navigation in 1939, and the way was paved for complete automation. The signal was further improved around 1950 with the removal of the

and the installation of rotating

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 ...

s rated at 1,000,000 candlepower. Putting aside questions of nostalgia, aesthetics, or appreciation for the engineering of a bygone era (as exemplified by the Fresnel lens), this iteration of lighthouse illumination is itself incredibly effective, and an endangered remnant of another bygone era.

Michigan Historical Marker

On Sunday, August 5, 2007, a Michigan Historical Marker was dedicated at the grounds of the lighthouse. Cindy Krueger, an employee of the Department of History, Arts, and Libraries (HAL) and the great-great-great-granddaughter of light keepers Peter and Catherine Shook, presented the marker. The State Historic Preservation Office, which administers the Michigan Historical Marker Program, awarded a $31,000 Michigan Lighthouse Assistance Grant to the county for a historic structures report and plans and specifications for the restoration of the lighthouse. The Michigan Lighthouse Assistance Grant is funded through the sale of the "Save our Lights" specialty license plates. The county received an additional $70,000 CMI (Clean Michigan Initiative) grant from the Department of Environmental Quality for restoration. Since the Michigan Historical Marker Program began in 1955, the Michigan Historical Commission has placed more than 1,500 markers throughout the state. The markers are paid for with donations from sponsors who submit application packages to the State Historic Preservation Office. The Michigan Historical Commission determines the placement and wording of official state markers which are the property of the State of Michigan. The Pointe Aux Barques Lighthouse Society donated the $2,875 for the marker. The text on the Historical Marker reads as follows:

Point aux Barques Lighthouse The Point aux Barques Lighthouse and Lifesaving Station aided mariners for over a century, beginning in 1847. That year the U.S. Lighthouse Service built the first lighthouse on this site to mark the turning point of Lake Huron into Saginaw Bay and to warn of shallow waters. Catherine Shook became Michigan’s first female light keeper when she took over for her husband, Peter, after he drowned in 1849. In 1857, the lighthouse and dwelling were replaced with the present 89 foot tower and attached house. In 1908, the brick assistant keeper’s house was built. The lighthouse was fully automated in 1934. Five years later, the last keeper retired, and the lifesaving station, made up of 15 buildings, was decommissioned.

Pointe aux Barques today

The 1857 tower and attached keepers dwelling remain intact, along with the 1908 assistant keeper's dwelling and a round, iron oil house. The keeper's dwelling is home to a museum. One room contains memorabilia of the lighthouse, its history, and keepers. Many original documents and pictures are on display. Another room interprets the many ship wrecks that lie under the local waters. Following automation, the lighthouse grounds were turned over to Huron County. The transfer was completed in June, 2003. The tower is an active aid to navigation and is not open to the public. A camp ground was established near the light station in the area where an 1876 United States Life Saving Service (USLSS) station had been located. A group of students from

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. Bliss for the training of teachers ...

performed an

archeological dig In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...

at the site in 2003. They unearthed evidence of an 1840s lighthouse structure that preceded the 1857 building. It was also repaired extensively in 2005. In 1972, the lighthouse was listed in 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 ...

, Reference #73000949. On site are two museums, namely - "THE KEEPERS OF THE LIGHT" and "THE THUMB UNDERWATER PRESERVE". The original Third Order

, from Pointe aux Barques, is on display at the museum in Huron City. The Pointe aux Barques Lighthouse Society (PaBLS), founded in 2002, is dedicated to preserving and restoring the light station and museum located inside. In 2008, an exterior historical restoration project was successfully completed by National Restoration, Inc. In October–November 2017, two Life-Saving Service structures were moved to sit about 100 feet from the Pointe aux Barques Lighthouse, and set on new foundations. The two buildings were originally constructed along the shore about 1,000 feet south-by-southeast of their current location, and had been moved to the

Huron City Historic District The Huron City Historic District is a historic district encompassing the village of Huron City, Michigan, with structures located primarily along Pioneer Drive. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995. Histor ...

in 1964.

Location

Located off

M-25 M25 or M-25 may be: Aerospace * M-25 Dromader Mikro, a variant of the Polish PZL-Mielec M-18 Dromader agricultural aircraft * Cors-Air M25Y Black Devil, an Italian aircraft engine * Shvetsov M-25, an aircraft radial engine produced in the Soviet ...

, seven miles (11 km) north of Port Hope and south of Port Austin on Lighthouse Road. It is a Huron County park. A campground is located adjacent to the base of the light. Visitors can easily spend the better part of a day touring the lighthouse grounds and museum or just enjoying the beauty of the Lake Huron shore.Pointe aux Barques Lighthouse Society.
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References

External links

Pointe Aux Barques Lighthouse Society
- official site

Lighthouse Central, Point Aux Barques Lighthouse Photographs, History and Directions, ''The Ultimate Guide to East Michigan Lighthouses'' by Jerry Roach
(Publisher: Bugs Publishing LLC). ; . {{DEFAULTSORT:Pointe Aux Barques Light Lighthouses completed in 1848 Houses completed in 1848 Lighthouses completed in 1857 Houses completed in 1857 Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan Harbor Beach, Michigan Museums in Huron County, Michigan Lighthouse museums in Michigan 1848 establishments in Michigan Saginaw Bay National Register of Historic Places in Huron County, Michigan Michigan State Historic Sites