Manistee Pierhead lights

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Manistee Pierhead lights

Manistee Breakwater Lighthouse
Location: Manistee, Michigan
Coordinates
WGS-84 (GPS)		 44°15′06″N 86°20′47″W / 44.2517, -86.3464
Year first lit: 1875
Automated: 1927
Foundation: pier
Construction: Cast Iron
Tower shape: cylindrical
Markings/Pattern: white with black lantern
Height: Tower - 39 feet (12 m)
Elevation: Focal plane - 55 feet (17 m)
Original lens: fifth order Fresnel Lens
Current lens: 300 m.m. Tidelands Signal acrylic optic
Intensity: 5000 candles
Range: 15 miles (24 km)
Characteristic: group occulting white light over 30 seconds

The Manistee Breakwater north breakwater lighthouse is located in the harbor of Manistee, Michigan.

The first light was on the south pier in 1870. It was destroyed by fire the following yaer .[1] In 1870, a lighthouse was built on the south pier. Unfortunately, it burnt in the Great fire of 1871, October 8, 1871, along with the town of Manistee.[2] Coincidentally, Manistee burnt on on the same day as the the Great Chicago Fire, Peshtigo Fire in Wisconsin, and fires in Port Huron and Holland, Michigan.[3]

Two lighthouses were built, one on each pier in 1875. The light has been moved several times, including moves from the mainland, and to and from the south to the north pier. Lights have been torn down. It has also been rebuilt.

The current tower is constructed of cast iron, and was first list in 1927. Its foundation is the pier. It is still operational. The tower is a white cylinder, and the keepers house is separate. The original lens was a Fifth Order Fresnel lens.[4] The tower has also been rebuilt as the pier has been extended. Other changes have involved the placement and configuration of the fog horn.[5] The present tower is 39 feet tall. The catwalk is one of only three that survive on the Great Lakes.[6] National Register of Historic Places, Reference # 90000718 The tower is capped with a ten-sided steel lantern. The light uses a 5,000 candlepower incandescent electric bulb, and has a flashing mechanism which displays "a group occulting white light" over 30 seconds. Its focal plane is 55 feet, and is visible for 15 miles in clear weather. The "Type C" diaphone is powered by an electric compressor housed in the tower, and emits a group of three blasts every 30 seconds. [7] There is also a radio beacon.[8]

The northern pier light is across the canal from the Manistee Coast Guard station, and within shouting distance of the Manistee South pier light.[9]

The south pier has a 37 foot steel tower navigational aid. This was construed the lighthouse was moved to the north pier in 1927.[10]

Contents

[edit] Directions

From US 31 go 1.5 miles west on Memorial Drive, to the Fifth Ave. Beach and Park.

[edit] Further reading

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Boatnerd, Manistee Light.
  2. ^ Lighthouses of Michigan, Manistee Pierhead lights.
  3. ^ The Great Fire Of 1871
  4. ^ USCG's complete list of Michigan lights.
  5. ^ Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light, Manistee Pierhead Lighthouse.
  6. ^ National Park Service, National Maritime Heritage Program, Inventory of Historic Lights, Manistee North Pier.
  7. ^ Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light, Manistee Pierhead Lighthouse.
  8. ^ Manistee Pierhead Lighthouse Page from Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy.
  9. ^ Boatnerd, Manistee Light.
  10. ^ Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light, Manistee Pierhead Lighthouse.

[edit] External links

[edit] See also

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