The Cute but Unassuming Old Mission Point Lighthouse

By Mike Norton

Regular readers of this blog know that I seem to spend a lot of time out at Old Mission Point, where there are a lot of ski/snowshoe/hiking trails. It’s not surprising, since I live pretty close to the Point. Up to now, though, I haven’t really mentioned its most unique attribute: the picturesque 1870 lighthouse that stands above the rocky shoals at the tip of the Old Mission Peninsula.

For those accustomed to tall, monumental lighthouses like the one at Cape Hatteras, our little Old Mission light is quaintly modest. It’s basically a 1 ½-story timber-frame house with a short wooden tower at one end, only 36 feet from the foundation to its top. Fortunately, it gained extra height from its position atop a 14-foot sandbank, making it visible from 13 miles at sea. (Or, I guess, “at lake,” to be technical.)

Over 18 miles long and in places barely a mile wide, the Old Mission Peninsula is one of Michigan’s most popular visitor destinations, thanks to its spectacular scenery, its picturesque farming settlements and its thriving wine industry. And it’s a rare visitor who doesn’t drive all the way to the Point, if only to stand beside the lighthouse and look out over the sweeping blue expanse of Lake Michigan and the distant Antrim and Leelanau coastlines.

But 19^th century mariners weren’t nearly so appreciative. They worried more about the deadly shoals that stretch northwards for more than two miles beyond the beach. In 1859, responding to repeated calls from the shipping industry, Congress appropriated $6,000 for a lighthouse at Old Mission – but the Civil War intervened before the project could begin, and it wasn’t completed until 1870.

The first lighthouse keeper at Old Mission was Jerome M. Pratt, a local Indian agent and one of the area’s first settlers. He and his successors tended the kerosene lamp in the tower until 1933, when it was replaced with an automated electric beacon perched out in the water. After World War II the lighthouse was decommissioned and eventually became the property of Peninsula Township, which used it as the park superintendent’s residence and only opened it to the public on one day each year.

Although the lighthouse is part of a public park, it was closed to the public except on rare occasions. That changed last year, when it was opened to visitors for the first time in its 138-year history. There are several rooms furnished with historical displays, and people can climb up into the tower to look out over the water (The township has also decided to emulate the successful “volunteer lighthouse keeper program” established several years ago at the Grand Traverse Lighthouse just across the bay in Northport. For a small fee, volunteers can live and work in the lighthouse, doing light maintenance work, answering visitors’ questions and operating a small gift shop.

By the way, the lighthouse isn’t the only attraction at the Point. Nearby, there’s a furnished log cabin from one of the peninsula’s first settler families, and the 142-acre park includes miles of beaches and shoals as well as an extensive network of hiking, cycling and skiing trails through the forested interior.

And another thing….

If you happen to be in town the weekend of April 3-5, you might want to head south to Grawn for the first-year anniversary of Wilderness Crossing, a family entertainment center that includes a great bowling alley, restaurant, glow golf and laser tag arena, They’ll be giving away hourly prizes and doing crafts for the kids on Saturday morning and facials, hand massages, nail-painting and makeup for the ladies.