Beaver Island Head Light

Beaver Island Head Light
Significant dates
Beaver Island Head Light (waterside view)

Location	Beaver Island, Charlevoix County, Michigan
Coordinates	45°34′35″N 85°34′21″W / 45.57639°N 85.57250°W / 45.57639; -85.57250Coordinates: 45°34′35″N 85°34′21″W / 45.57639°N 85.57250°W / 45.57639; -85.57250
Year first lit	1858
Deactivated	1962
Foundation	reinforced concrete
Construction	brick
Tower shape	cylindrical (attached Victorian lightkeeper house)^[1]
Markings / pattern	yellow (natural) w/grey lantern and parapet, red roof
Height	Tower - 46 feet (14 m)^[2]
Focal height	103 feet (31 m)
Original lens	14 Lewis lamps and reflectors
Current lens	Fourth Order Fresnel lens removed & on display
Range	16 nautical miles (30 km; 18 mi)^[3]
ARLHS number	USA-046
Beaver Island Light Station
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Michigan State Historic Site
Location	East Side Drive Peaine Township, Michigan
NRHP Reference #	78001495^[4]
Added to NRHP	December 29, 1978
Designated MSHS	April 5, 1974^[5]

The Beaver Head Light is located high on a bluff on the southern tip of Beaver Island. Boats trying to navigate North on Lake Michigan need to carefully work their way between Beaver Island and Gray's Reef.

The 46-foot (14 m) cylindrical tower was built in 1858, to replace an 1852 tower. The decagonal lantern room offers panoramic vistas of the Lake. The tower is open to the public from 8:00 a.m. though 9:00 p.m. during the summer.

In 1866, the attached yellow brick lighthouse keeper's dwelling was constructed. A frame addition was added to the keepers quarters to accommodate assistant keepers.^[6]

In 1915, the 22-by-40-foot (6.7 m × 12.2 m) fog signal building was constructed. Other outbuildings on the grounds including an oil house, garage and storage building and outhouse.

A radio beacon was placed in 1962, at which time the station was decommissioned and declared surplus.^[1] That same year, the original Fourth Order Fresnel lens was removed and placed in the dwelling, where it can still be seen.^[6]

In 1975, the Charlevoix Public Schools purchased the site for $1.00. After some vandalism was incurred, in 1978 the District founded an alternative school for youth aged 16–21.^[1] The school district has operated an Environmental and Vocational Educational Center in the keepers dwelling. Maintenance and restoration of the structure is part of the curriculum.^[6] Beginning in 1978, recurrent summer work/study programs greatly restored the station, which was then opened as a school.^[7]

In 2003, a grant was obtained to repair spalling of the exterior brick work on the fog signal building.^[8] A state grant awarded two years later provided $23,000 for oil house restoration.^[7]

The light station is listed on National Register of Historical Places (reference #78001495). It is also on the State List/Inventory.^[1]

Notes

1 2 3 4 Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy, Beaver Head Lighthouse.
↑ Terry Pepper, database on heights and focal planes.
↑ After 1858 upgrade."Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Michigan". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.
↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13.
↑ State of Michigan (2009). "Beaver Island Light Station". Retrieved June 26, 2010.
1 2 3 Wobser, David, Beaver Head (Beaver Island) Light at boatnerd.com.
1 2 Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Michigan's Western Lower Peninsula". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
↑ Terry Pepper. "Seeing the Light – Beaver Head Light". Archived from the original on 30 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-23.

External links

U.S. Coast Guard Archive Photo

Lighthouses in Michigan

Northern Upper Peninsula	Au Sable Big Bay Point Copper Harbor Copper Harbor Front Range Crisp Point Eagle Harbor Eagle Harbor Range Lights Eagle River Fourteen Mile Point Grand Island East Channel Grand Island Harbor Rear Range Grand Island North Grand Marais Range Lights Granite Island Gull Rock Huron Island Isle Royale Manitou Island Marquette Breakwater Outer Marquette Harbor Mendota (Bete Grise) Munising Front Range Munising Rear Range Ontonagon Ontonagon Harbor West Breakwater Portage River (Jacobsville) Passage Island Rock Harbor Rock of Ages Sand Hills Sand Point Light (Baraga) St. Martin Island Stannard Rock Thunder Bay Island Whitefish Point

Southern Upper Peninsula	DeTour Reef Lansing Shoals Manistique East Breakwater Martin Reef Menominee Pier Minneapolis Shoal Naubinway Island Peninsula Point Poverty Island Sand Point Seul Choix Squaw Island St. Martin Island

St. Mary's River	Frying Pan Island Pipe Island Point Iroquois Round Island Light (St. Mary's River) Six Mile Point Range Rear Winter Point Range Front

Portage River/Ship Canal	Keweenaw Waterway Lower Entrance Keweenaw Waterway Upper Entrance Portage Lake Rouleau Point Range Front and Rear Lights

Straits of Mackinac	Bois Blanc McGulpin Point Old Mackinac Point Round Island Round Island Passage St. Helena Island

Western Lower Peninsula	Beaver Island Harbor Beaver Island Head Big Sable Point Cedar River Charlevoix Charlevoix South Pier Frankfort Frankfort South Range Grand Haven North Pierhead Grand Haven South Pierhead Entrance Grand Haven South Pierhead Inner Grand Traverse Grays Reef Holland Harbor Ile Aux Galets Little Sable Point Little Traverse Ludington Manistee Pierhead Manning Memorial Mission Point Mission Point (1933) Muskegon Breakwater Muskegon Pier North Manitou Shoal Pentwater North Pierhead Pentwater South Pierhead Point Betsie Portage Lake South Fox Island South Haven South Manitou Island St. Joseph North Pier Inner St. Joseph North Pier Outer South Manitou Island Waugoshance White River White Shoal

Eastern Lower Peninsula	Alpena Caseville Harbor Charity Island Cheboygan Crib Cheboygan River Front Range DeTour Reef Detroit River Fort Gratiot Forty Mile Point Fourteen Foot Shoal Gibraltar Gravelly Shoal Harbor Beach Lake St. Clair Mariners Memorial Middle Island Miller Memorial New Presque Isle Old Presque Isle Peche Island Rear Range Poe Reef Pointe aux Barques Port Austin Port Sanilac Saginaw Bay Saginaw River Rear Range Spectacle Reef St. Clair Flats Front and Rear Range Light Sturgeon Point Tawas Point Thunder Bay Island Tri-Centennial Light of Detroit William Livingstone Memorial Windmill Point

Historical (lost) lights	Au Sable North Pierhead Belle Isle Clinton River Ecorse Ecorse Range Rear Gibraltar Grassy Island Grassy Island North Channel Range Lights Grassy Island South Channel Range Lights Grosse Ile North Channel Range Lights Grosse Ile South Channel Range Lights Harwood Point East Range Front Kalamazoo River Mama Juda Mama Juda Range Front Manistee Main Middle Lake George Monroe Pier New Buffalo North Manitou Island Saginaw Bay Sand Beach North Entrance East Squaw Point St. Mary's River Lower Range Front Vidal Shoals Channel Range Front and Rear Lights Windmill Point Range Front and Rear Lights

Related	Lightship Huron List of lifesaving stations in Michigan

U.S. National Register of Historic Places

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Beaver Island Head Light

Notes

Further reading

External links