Lake Michigan Lights

Despite the fact that scattered showers, gusty crosswinds, dropping temps and an imposing barge dredging sand at the end of the pier provided for less than optimal opportunities to photograph lighthouses along the northern lakeshore, Tracey and I visited four of these coastal beauties and discovered the role each has played in Lake Michigan’s maritime history.

ROBERT H. MANNING MEMORIAL LIGHTHOUSE

Robert H. Manning was a life-long resident of Empire and an avid fisherman who spent much time indulging his passion for fishing on Lake Michigan. When he returned from such trips late in the evening, he often remarked that a lighthouse at Empire would make his return visits after sunset much easier.

When Manning died in 1989, his family and friends felt that the construction of a lighthouse in Empire would be a fitting memorial. With the aid of donations from those who knew him, their dream came to fruition in 1990 when the Robert H. Manning Memorial Lighthouse was lighted for the first time.

The structure is of wooden construction with a stucco coating. Resembling the tower at Point Betsie, its white tower is capped with a green lantern room and railing, and features a bright gold ball at the apex of the lantern room roof.

POINT BETSIE LIGHTHOUSE

Pointe aux Becs Scies—“sawed beak point”—is located north of Frankfort at the southern end of the Manitou Passage, on the end of a point that resembles its original name.

The cylindrical 37-foot Point Betsie tower was built in 1858 at a cost of $5,000. In 1983, after having been the last manned lighthouse on the east shore of Lake Michigan, the Coast Guard automated Point Betsie. Title was transferred to Benzie County by way of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act in 2004 which, in turn, leased the property to The Friends of Point Betsie Lighthouse.

After writing grants and conducting fund-raisers, the group renovated the exterior of the lighthouse at a cost of about $1 million. As part of the restoration, the lighthouse colors were returned to those more accurately shown in historical photographs: a black lantern, green trim and doors, and a bright red cedar shingled roof.

The lighthouse is open on weekends from Memorial Day to Columbus Day, as well as on Fridays during July and August, when visitors can tour the keeper’s quarters and climb the spiral stairs to the lantern room.

FRANKFORT NORTH BREAKWATER LIGHT

Built in 1932, this 67-foot tower is mounted at the end of a pier just north of Lake Betsie, and the first light to mark the passageway between that lake and Lake Michigan. It replaced an earlier light that was constructed in 1873, which sat along a wooden pier and had an elevated catwalk. A door located halfway up the current steel tower suggests that at one time an elevated catwalk may have been proposed to connect the lighthouse to shore, but was never actually built. The automated light still shines from the end of Frankfort’s North Breakwater. 

MANISTEE NORTH PIER HEAD LIGHTHOUSE

The first lighthouse to mark the entrance to the Manistee River was a two-story gabled dwelling with a light tower. It was only operational for a year before destroyed by fire in October 1871. A nearly identical replacement was built the following year and served until 1875 when it was replaced by a light at the end of the south pier. The Old Manistee Main Light has been moved many times since it was deactivated in 1927. After serving as a rental property for many years, it is now a private residence.

After major improvements to both piers in 1927, the old fog signal building was removed from the north pier and replaced by the current 39-foot-tall iron tower.  With the erection of this new tower, the old wooden elevated walk was torn down and replaced by a cast iron walkway. Manistee’s Historic North Pier and Catwalk is listed on the State Register of Historic Sites and is one of only four remaining catwalks on the West Michigan coast of Lake Michigan.

Four down, many more to go!  I have only but scratched the surface of visiting—and photographing—the lighthouses that dot the shores of Lake Michigan and look forward to checking out more of them later this year.