Sturgeon Point Light

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Sturgeon Point Light

The light in winter.
Location: Alcona County, Michigan
Coordinates
WGS-84 (GPS)		 44°42′45.7″N 83°16′21.8″W / 44.712694, -83.272722
Year first constructed: 1869
Year first lit: 1869
Automated: 1939
Foundation: Limestone
Construction: Brick
Tower shape: Conical
Markings/Pattern: white with red trim
Height: Tower - 71 feet (22 m)[1]
Elevation: Focal plane - 69 feet (21 m)
Original lens: Sixth order Fresnel Lens
Current lens: 3.5 order Fresnel Lens
Range: 18 miles (29 km)[2]
Characteristic: flash every six seconds

The Sturgeon Point Light Station is a lighthouse on Lake Huron in Alcona County, northeastern lower Michigan. Established to ward mariners off a reef that extends 1.5 miles (2.4 km) lakeward from Sturgeon Point,[3] it is today regarded as a historic example of a Cape Cod style Great Lakes lighthouse.[4]

Contents

[edit] The station

The light station was built in 1869 by the United States Lighthouse Board. The Board was in the midst of a lighthouse building boom on the Great Lakes due to increased maritime traffic, and in response to a large number of lost ships and men: Congress approved 70 lights on the western Great Lakes in thirty years: 28 in the 1850s, and 21 in each of the following decades.[5][6] The location is roughly halfway between Alpena's Thunder Bay Island and the northern entry to Saginaw Bay. Importantly, this point sits atop a formidable reef that is an imminent hazard to navigation. Moreover, the area north of Sturgeon Point and south of Alcona, Michigan is a bay that can provide shelter from northerly and southerly winds and waves. Historically, this area is locally known as "Sanctuary Bay." The Lighthouse Board further recognized that being able to navigate close to (but not over) the reef and the point would aid transport into and out of Saginaw Bay.[7]

It is made of brick masonry on a limestone foundation.[8] The tower stands 70 feet 9 inches (21.5 m) in height, with a diameter of 16 feet (4.9 m) at the base.[3] The focal plane is listed by the Coast Guard at 69 feet, which would be the height from the "mean high water mark," That figure is important, in that it could be used by mariners to chart their location, using a method of triangulation.[9] The adjoining, two-story Lighthouse keeper’s quarters was designed in the Cape Cod style and built of the same materials.[8] At the time, the Board was often using this architectural motif. See Point Iroquois Light. In fact, Poverty Island Light, built in 1874, is considered to be a "sibling" as it is direct copy of Sturgeon Point.[10][11]

The light began its service with a sixth-order Fresnel lens (pronounced [freɪ'nel]) which was upgraded to a 3.5-order lens (that was originally installed at Oswego, New York), twenty years later.[8] In 1876, the light station was joined in its service by an adjacent United States Life-Saving Service station.[12][13]

In 1875, a U.S. Life-Saving Service station was opened. The first light keeper became the first captain of the surf team.[14]

In 1915, this station became part of the U.S. Coast Guard.

In 1939 the U.S. Lighthouse Service also merged under the control of the U.S. Coast Guard. In the same year the station was electrified and automated.[15][3]

By the 1940s, the light was fully automated, and the Coast Guard withdrew all personnel in 1941 and therafter dismantled the life-saving station.[3] The brick outhouse remains, however.[16]

The Life Saving station's foundation is still visible.[17] The lifesaving watch tower also was torn down.[18]

The keeper's house itself fell into disrepair until it was taken over by the Alcona Historical Society in 1982.

The 3.5 Order Fresnel lens is still in place and in use. This is one of five Fresnel lens that remain in use on the Great Lakes.[19]

[edit] Historic context

The light and United States Life-Saving Service station in approximately 1900-1910.
The light and United States Life-Saving Service station in approximately 1900-1910.

[edit] Contemporary status

Ownership was transferred from the Coast Guard to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources under the terms of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act, and operations are maintained by the Alcona Historical Society.[8]

During the planning stages of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, the Sturgeon Point Light was proposed to mark the southernmost extent of the sanctuary,[12] although the final sanctuary boundary was drawn short of the light.[24] Nevertheless, 15 historic shipwrecks have been identified with place of loss listed as "Sturgeon Point".[12] Indeed, the question of expanding the National Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve continues to be a subject of inquiry and discussion.[25]

Although the United States Coast Guard continues to operate the light,[3] the property has been transferred to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources under the terms of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act.[8] The transfer from the Department of the interior was effective May, 2005.[26] The Alcona Historical Society operates a museum in the restored historic buildings. [3][12] The Sturgeon Point Light was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.[27] Sturgeon Point, on which the lighthouse is built, is a Michigan Scenic Site overseen by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.[28] It is listed as part of the National Maritime Heritage Program with the National Park Service.[29] The station structure is also listed as a state historic site in February 1982.[30]

Additionally, it is on the National Registry of Historic Places, Reference #84001370, Name of Listing: STURGEON POINT LIGHT STATION (U.S. COAST GUARD/GREAT LAKES TR) and is also on the state inventory, being listed in 1969.[31]

In 2006, the U.S. Coast Guard sought to forever darken the light, and in fact shut it off for a short time. Resistance to the initiative developed, and over five thousand signatures were collected on petitions to "Save Our Light."[32] Numerous public comments were submitted as part of the regulatory process. In due course, an arrangement was made whereby the light was left on (albeit with its operating expenses to be paid by the Alcona County Historical Society) and it was designated as an official "seasonal private aid to navigation." from April 1 through November 1.[33] The Coast Guard reversed course after the public pressure, and the light will remain on.[34]

Because of its picturesque form and location, it is often the subject of photographs, paintings,[35] drawings,[36] and even of needlepoint illustrations.[37] In fact, it is also the setting of an illustrated children's storybook.[38]

The following contact information may be of use to travelers: Sturgeon Point Lighthouse & Maritime Museum Sturgeon Point Road Harrisville, MI 48740 (517) 724-5107[39]

[edit] Events at the Lighthouse and Museum

  • The lighthouse is maintained and operated by the Alcona Historical Society, a private organization that funds the maintenance and operation with few public funds. The Society is in the process of raising contributions to renovate and paint the lighthouse.[40]
  • The tower is regularly open during the summer for climbing by the public (for a small fee to cover insurance costs). The museum is open to the public, and is supported by donations.
  • On the grounds is the Old Bailey School, a 1907 One-room schoolhouse, which was moved there from Mikado, Michigan in 1998.[41]
  • A strawberry social is held at the at Bailey School on the last Sunday of June (adjacent to the lighthouse) which has as its purpose fund raising for the Alcona Historical Society.[41]
  • The annual Sturgeon Point Light Station Sanctuary Bay sail boat race, which also has a local picnic, is also a fundraiser for the Alcona County Historical Society. It is regularly held on the first Saturday in August, and is a handicapped race for day sailers of all classes. The course is two times around a triangular 6 mile (9.2 kilometer) course in Sanctuary Bay, the area between Sturgeon Point Light and Alcona.

[edit] Getting there

From Harrisville at the traffic light at Main Street M-72), proceed 2.6 miles north on US-23; turn right on Lakeshore Drive. Take Lakeshore Drive 1.2 miles; turn right on Point Road (there are signs that direct you to the lighthouse). Sturgeon Point Lighthouse is a mile down Point Road on the left.

From Alpena, take US-23, turn left onto Alcona Road, and follow it down the hill for 1.1 miles to Lakeshore Drive; turn right on Lakeshore Drive for 3.2 miles and turn left on Point Road. Sturgeon Point Lighthouse is a mile down on the left hand side.

The Lighthouse keeper's house is a maritime museum open to the public: Monday though Thursday from noon to 3 p.m.; and Friday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.. The tower is open from noon to 3 p.m., Friday through Sunday, during the same period. Grounds are open all year. Questions may be answered via telephone during operating hours at (989) 724-6297.

Grounds open year round. Dwelling/tower open in season, from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Alcona Historical Society/Sturgeon Point Light Station website
  2. ^ Michigan Americana, Sturgeon Point Light.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Alcona Historical Society. Sturgeon Point Lighthouse & Museum. Retrieved on 2007-03-31.
  4. ^ Seeing the light, Terry Pepper on Sturgeon Point Light Station.
  5. ^ Establishment years of western Great Lakes Lights, Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light,
  6. ^ 'See also the chronology at Wagner, John L.. Beacons Shining in the Night: The Lighthouses of Michigan. Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University.
  7. ^ Seeing the light, Terry Pepper on Sturgeon Point Light Station.
  8. ^ a b c d e National Park Service, Marine Heritage Program (2005). Inventory of Historic Light Stations. Retrieved on 2007-03-31.
  9. ^ List of heights (with sources) of western Great Lakes lights, Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light.
  10. ^ Poverty Island Light, Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light.
  11. ^ Lighthouses of the Upper Peninsula, Poverty Island Light, University of North Carolina.
  12. ^ a b c d e f National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (1999). Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, Final Environmental Impact Statement/Management Plan. 
  13. ^ Alcona Historical Society/Sturgeon Point Light Station website
  14. ^ Wobser, David, Boatnerd.com Sturgeon Point Light.
  15. ^ Seeing the Light, Terry Pepper on Sturgeon Point Light Station.
  16. ^ National Park Service, Inventory of historic light stations, Sturgeon Point.
  17. ^ Wobser, David, Boatnerd.com Sturgeon Point Light.
  18. ^ Photograph of life saving watch tower, Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light.
  19. ^ See, National Park Service Maritime Light Inventory, Grosse Point Light study which erroneously disregards Sturgeon Point, and proffers a count of four remaining lenses -- it lists them -- on the Great Lakes. However, if may be that the article is only intending to list lights that have "their original lens in situ", and by that definition, Sturgeon Point would not be on the list, as it has a replacement lens, the original having been replaced by a larger lens in 1889.
  20. ^ Thumb Shipwreck Preserve, John A. McGean.
  21. ^ Northeast dive news, Isaac M. Scott.
  22. ^ The Lakeshore Guardian :: December 2003 :: Sunken History
  23. ^ Northeast dive news, Isaac M. Scott.
  24. ^ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. About the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve. Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary Official Site. Retrieved on 2007-03-31.
  25. ^ Testimony by Jefferson Gray, Superintendent of Thunder Bay Marine Sanctuary concerning its expansion, May 6, 2008.
  26. ^ Department of Interior News Release.
  27. ^ National Park Service. National Register Information System. Retrieved on 2007-03-29.
  28. ^ Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Sturgeon Point Scenic Site. Retrieved on 2007-07-22.
  29. ^ National Park Service Maritime Heritage Sites
  30. ^ Sturgeon Point Light Station, Historic Sites Online, Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries
  31. ^ [ National Park Service, Inventory of historic light stations, Sturgeon Point.
  32. ^ The Lighthouse DirectoryLighthouses of the Eastern Lower Peninsula, including Sturgeon Point.
  33. ^ Department of Homeland Security announcement to mariners re Sturgeon Point light change in status, 01/07.
  34. ^ Sturgeon Point to remain on, Lighthouse Depot.
  35. ^ Nicki Thompson, Painting of Sturgeon Point Light.
  36. ^ Mulgrew, Marilyn, Drawing of Sturgeon Point Light.
  37. ^ Needlepoint of Sturgeon Point Light.
  38. ^ Briggs-Bunting, Jane, and Jon Buechel, llustrator. Laddie of the Light. (Black River Trading Co., 1997). ISBN 9780964908314 ISBN 096490831X.
  39. ^ Alcona Historical Society
  40. ^ Alcona Historical Society
  41. ^ a b Chamber of Commerce on Sturgeon Point and Old Bailey School.

[edit] Bibliography and further reading

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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