The cozy little lighthouse at Old Mission Point
TRAVERSE CITY, MI - This summer hundreds of lighthouse fans will gather here to discuss ways to restore and preserve historic lighthouses.
The Great Lakes Lighthouse Preservation Conference will be held June 14-17 at NMC’s Hagerty Center on West Grand Traverse Bay. It will feature tours, panel discussions, workshops and lectures for lighthouse aficionados of every stripe - including those who want to buy and own a lighthouse of their own. (And since 2010 marks the 10th anniversary of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act, federal officials will be at the conference to announce which lighthouses will become available for transfer to private ownership in the coming year.)
Visitors from other regions are often startled to learn that Michigan has more lighthouses than any other state in the U.S. Though it’s hundreds of miles from the nearest ocean, it has over 3,000 miles of coastline (only Alaska has more) and during the 19th century its “inland seas” were among the most heavily traveled waterways in the world. More than 130 lighthouses were built to warn mariners away from their numerous beaches, shoals and headlands.
That busy time of sloops and schooners is only a distant memory today, and most of Michigan’s lighthouses have been rendered obsolete as navigational aids, but they still exert a powerful attraction. Each year, growing numbers of lighthouse enthusiasts make their way to the Great Lakes State - and particularly to the region around Traverse City.
“Michigan’s love affair with lighthouses is immediately evident,” says Terry Pepper, executive director of the Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association. “Perhaps nowhere is this love demonstrated more than by those dedicated volunteer groups who step up to literally save these icons of our maritime heritage from being lost to weather, ice or just plain neglect.”
Many lighthouses around the country have been taken over by nonprofit historic or community groups; others serve as private homes, inns and restaurants. The Traverse City conference includes a number of “technical discussions” to help new owners cope with the unique challenges of owning and caring for them. To learn more, contact the Michigan Lighthouse Alliance at www.michiganlighthousealliance.org
The Lighthouses of Traverse City
For those who’d rather skip the lectures and do some exploring on their own, Traverse City is a convenient base for exploring five historic lighthouses, all located in a relatively compact area. Best of all, four of the five can be easily visited and are open for tours, and two even allow visitors to spend a week or two in residence as volunteer lighthouse keepers.
The most easily accessible of the Traverse City area’s lighthouses is the Grand Traverse Lighthouse. Located at the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula, near the village of Northport, it is one of the oldest lighthouses on the Great Lakes, guiding ships through the northern entrance to the Manitou Passage for 150 years.
Today it is a museum surrounded by a picturesque state park where visitors can envision the once-isolated life of lighthouse keepers and their families, with extensive exhibits and period furnishings from the 1920s and 1930s. Its popular “volunteer lighthouse keeper” program also provides opportunities for enthusiasts to spend several weeks living in the lighthouse, carrying on routine maintenance and answering the questions of its frequent visitors.
Some 45 miles to the south near the town of Frankfort, the Point Betsie Lighthouse - “the second most photographed lighthouse in the U.S.” after Maine’s Portland Head Light — marks the lower entrance of the Passage. Built in 1858, its brightly-colored buildings are clustered in a scenic dune area at the very edge of the surf. Point Betsie was the last lighthouse on the eastern Lake Michigan shore to be staffed by the Coast Guard; it was automated in 1983 and is still in operation.
Like its neighbor to the north, the lighthouse now belongs to a nonprofit group, the Friends of Point Betsie Lighthouse, which recently completed a $1 million exterior restoration and is raising money to restore the interior as well. It, too, is open for regular tours.
The picturesque Old Mission Point Lighthouse was built in 1870 to warn ships away from the dangerous shoals at the tip of the Old Mission Peninsula, but was replaced by an offshore beacon in 1933. The lighthouse is open for tours daily during spring, summer and fall, and it is the centerpiece of an attractive park with popular beaches, historical exhibits and extensive hiking and skiing trails. Like the Grand Traverse Lighthouse, it has a popular volunteer lighthouse keeper program.
Even more picturesque, but somewhat less accessible, the South Manitou Island Lighthouse can only be reached in summer, after a 1.5-hour ferryboat ride from the Lake Michigan port of Leland. A classic 100-foot tower, the light rises abruptly from the shore of the island - and visitors are free to climb its 117 steps for a thrilling view of water, sky, forests and dunes. Established in 1840 to beckon vessels to what was then the last deepwater harbor north of Chicago, the original wooden light was replaced in 1871 with the current building. Today it is part of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and administered by the National Park Service.
Just a few miles away, the North Manitou Island Shoal Lighthouse – known to locals as “the crib” - is not open to visitors. Built in 1935 to mark an unusual and dangerous shoal, it stands by itself in the middle of the water. For 42 years this artificial island was home to a three-man Coast Guard crew who rotated on a three-week schedule (two weeks on and one week off) during the navigational season. Since 1980 it has been operated as an automated navigational light and has been taken over by a large population of cormorants. Although visitors are not encouraged to climb onto the large structure, it can be viewed up-close from the ferry that takes visitors to South Manitou.
