Leelanau County encompasses the entire 30-mile peninsula between Lake Michigan and Grand Traverse Bay. “Leelanau” is an Indian word meaning “Delight of Life.” The name was suggested by Michigan Indian agent Henry Schoolcraft during the mid 1800s and perfectly describes what you experience when traveling this little finger of our mitten state. In addition to dual coastlines are sweeping dunes, uninhabited islands, inland lakes and cherry orchards. And lighthouses!
As I previously mentioned, I’ve traversed Leelanau County many times, but I’ve never been to its northernmost point. What was I thinking? Who knew there was a lighthouse there? The more important question, however, is did you really expect this Michigan county tour to begin with something other than a lighthouse?
The Grand Traverse Lighthouse is located inside Leelanau State Park, eight miles north of Northport. Its website indicated it didn’t open until noon, so we were pleasantly surprised to discover that the restored structure, now a museum, was indeed available to tour when we arrived that morning. For $4 a pop, we were transported back in time to learn of its history and its keepers.
Sometimes called the Cat’s Head Point Light, or the Northport Light in honor of the nearby town, the present lighthouse was constructed in 1858 to guide freighters through the Manitou Passage. Built in a more visible location than its predecessor, it replaced the original 1852 Grand Traverse Light Station constructed by the U.S. Lighthouse Service. The fog signal building was added in 1899, and a year later the lighthouse converted to a two-family dwelling. The building was closed in 1972 when an automatic light tower was erected, but reopened to the public in 1986.
The lighthouse has been restored to resemble a keeper’s home of the 1920s and 1930s, and also houses exhibits on area lighthouses, foghorns, shipwrecks and local history.
Interestingly, if you’ve ever wanted to stay in a lighthouse, this is the place for you. The Keepers Program affords lighthouse lovers an opportunity to spend a week in the structure as its keeper! You get to live in the northern apartment of the lighthouse, greet visitors and provided them with historical information. How cool is that?
We also were able to climb the tower
and enjoy a bird’s eye view of the fog signal building and neighboring islands.
With my fear of heights I usually only manage to do this after freaking out for a good ten minutes, but this one had just a short staircase and ladder. Piece of cake!
There’s much, much more of Leelanau to experience, but I’d say this is a pretty good start to the county and the State of Michigan. One down, 82 to go!
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