Port Sanilac Light is a

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, mu ...

lighthouse located on Point Sanilac, near

Port Sanilac Port Sanilac is a village in Sanilac Township, Sanilac County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 567 at the 2020 census. History This village was originally a lumberjack settlement on the shore of Lake Huron named "Bark Shant ...

on the eastern side of

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

's Thumb. It is an automated and active

aid to navigation In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, foreign aid, economic aid or foreign assistance) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another. Ai ...

on Lake Huron.

History

Characterized by shallow water and sandbanks, the stretch of coastline between the

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

Pointe aux Barques Light Pointe aux Barques Lighthouse ( ) is an active lighthouse located in Huron County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located along the shores of Lake Huron on the northeastern tip of the Thumb. Originally constructed in 1848, it is one of th ...

is a hazard to navigation. Even after the establishment of the Sand Beach Harbor of Refuge Light in 1875, of coast line still remained completely unlit.Port Sanilac Lighthouse
at Seeing the Light by Terry Pepper. Eighteen years after the first attempts to get congressional funding, the station was established and first lit in 1886. This Lake Huron lighthouse is north of the Fort Gratiot Lighthouse ( Michigan's oldest) in Port Huron, Michigan. The Port Sanilac Light's foundation consists of dressed stone and timber. The octagon-hourglass-shaped tower (near its top) is made of tiered and reverse stair-stepped brick. It is in diameter at its base, and tapers vertically to diameter below the gallery. Eschewing the usual

corbels In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the st ...

, a dozen courses of bricks create the gallery support, with four indentations for windows, creating a watch room for the four points of the compass. The lighthouse was built at a cost of $20,000. The placement and the unique shape were dictated by and created because of budgetary constraints (Congress appropriated only half the money requested). Designed by Eleventh District Engineer Captain Charles E. L. B. Davis, the design has been called "both unique and architecturally significant in its elegance." The tower is white with a red roof. This "handsome" lighthouse shares its design with only one other,

Ile Aux Galets Ile Aux Galets, also known as ''Skillagallee'' or ''Skillagalee Island'', is located in northeast Lake Michigan, between Beaver Island and the mainland, approximately northwest of Cross Village in Emmet County, Michigan. The island's Ile Aux G ...

, also known as Skilligallee Island Light, on Lake Michigan. The Port Sanilac Light tower is capped with a

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron– carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impur ...

lantern room, which still houses 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 ...

manufactured by Barbier and Fenestre of Paris. The lens and its brass reflector on one segment (the reflector blocked the lens on the landward side) send the light out in a 300 degree arc across the lake. Its focal plane is shines a beam of light visible for up to in all directions, thus closing most of the -gap mentioned above. The light sits atop high ground at the head of a small bay. This is one of only 70 such Fresnel lenses that are still operational in the United States, sixteen of which are use 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 lak ...

of which eight are in Michigan. Port Sanilac Light Station — Lake St. is a registered site 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 ...

, being added on August 19, 1984 as listed site #84001842. Name of Listing: PORT SANILAC LIGHT STATION (U.S. COAST GUARD/GREAT LAKES TR). The Port Sanilac Light complex currently consists of five historic structures. In addition to the light tower and ornate brick

Lighthouse keeper A lighthouse keeper or lightkeeper is a person responsible for tending and caring for a lighthouse, particularly the light and lens in the days when oil lamps and clockwork mechanisms were used. Lighthouse keepers were sometimes referred to as ...

's residence, the brick oil house, wooden

outhouse An outhouse is a small structure, separate from a main building, which covers a toilet. This is typically either a pit latrine or a bucket toilet, but other forms of dry (non-flushing) toilets may be encountered. The term may also be used ...

, and well also survive. The well is covered by a safety platform of wooden planks. Because of its unique and picturesque form and location, it is often the subject of photographs, and even of needlepoint illustrations. Drawings have also been produced, as have

postcard A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. There are novelty exceptions, such as wood ...

s. The original fourth order Fresnel lens is still operative, being one of only 70 such lenses that remain operational in the United States; sixteen of them are use on the

, of which eight are in Michigan. The lighthouse, including the keeper's house, is for sale.

Getting there

The lighthouse is private property; access around it is prohibited. Viewing from the parking lot is very good. You can also walk down toward the beach and breakwater to get a good view of the lighthouse and harbor. From

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 ...

Port Sanilac, Michigan Port Sanilac is a village in Sanilac Township, Sanilac County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 567 at the 2020 census. History This village was originally a lumberjack settlement on the shore of Lake Huron named "Bark Shant ...

, turn east onto Cherry Street, taking it to the Lake Huron shore. Public parking is at the terminus of Cherry Street, directly south of the light. The breakwater "is a nice place from which the lighthouse can be photographed."U.S. Lighthouses, Port Sanilac Light.
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References

External links

* * *
Interactive map of lighthouses in area.

* Michigan.gov website has
Map of Michigan Lighthouses

at Seeing the Light by Terry Pepper.
Satellite view at

Google Maps Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panoramic views of streets ( Street View), real-time traffic conditions, and rou ...

. * Photo gallery * Photo gallery *
Same photo, pinned at Facebook
{{authority control Lighthouses completed in 1886 Houses completed in 1886 Buildings and structures in Sanilac County, Michigan Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan National Register of Historic Places in Sanilac County, Michigan

History

Getting there

See also

References

External links