South Haven Light

South Haven Light

South Pierhead Light
Location	South Haven, Michigan
Coordinates	42°24′08″N 86°17′04″W / 42.40222°N 86.28444°W / 42.40222; -86.28444Coordinates: 42°24′08″N 86°17′04″W / 42.40222°N 86.28444°W / 42.40222; -86.28444
Year first lit	1903
Foundation	Pier
Construction	Cast iron[1]
Tower shape	Cylindrical w/catwalk
Markings / pattern	red/black lantern, parapet and markings
Height	35 feet (11 m)
Focal height	37 feet (11 m)[2]
Original lens	Fifth order Fresnel lens
Current lens	Sixth order Fresnel lens
Range	13 nautical miles (24 km; 15 mi)[3]
Characteristic	Fl R 4 seconds[3]
Fog signal	HORN: 2 blast ev 30s (2s bl- 2s si-2s bl-24s si). Diaphone.[3]
ARLHS number	USA-772
USCG number	7-19505
Navigation Structures at South Haven Harbor, Michigan
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Michigan State Historic Site
NRHP Reference #	95001160[4]
Added to NRHP	October 23, 1995

The South Haven South Pierhead Light is a lighthouse in Michigan, at the entrance to the Black River on Lake Michigan. The station was lit in 1872, and is still operational. The tower is a shortened version of the Muskegon South Pierhead Light, and replaced an 1872 wooden tower. The catwalk is original and still links the tower to shore: it is one of only four that survive in the State of Michigan.^[5]

History

The keeper's house is on shore, 2-¹⁄₂ stories stall, wood with a hipped-roof. It was also built in 1872, and is located at 91 Michigan Avenue onshore, was transferred to the city for preservation in 2000. The Michigan Maritime Museum has renovated the keeper's house as the Marialyce Canonie Great Lakes Research Library.^[6]

A Fifth order Fresnel lens manufactured by Parisian glass makers Barbier and Fenestre was installed in the lantern.

The current tower was designed by Eleventh District engineer James G. Warren.^[7]

The U.S. Lighthouse Service elected to tear down the wooden lighthouse and replace it. On October 6, 1903 ten workers arrived on the USLHS tender Hyacinth and began the project. It took a little more than a month to complete the project. According to The Daily Tribune (October 14, 1903) the lantern room was brought from Muskegon, Michigan where it had spent forty years on duty.^[8]

In 1913, the location was deemed unsatisfactory, and the cast iron lighthouse was moved 425 feet (130 m) to the end of the pier.^[8]

In 1999, Lighthouse Digest published an extensive article on the light, filled with interesting anecdotes and ephemera.^[8]

Directions

In 2005 this museum reported it was "in the process" of acquiring the lighthouse. It is accessible to the public, and located on the south pier at the mouth of the Black River, at the end of Water Street.^[9] Located at the end of the pier at the foot of Water Street in South Haven. One can get there by walking the pier after parking in the nearby city park. The site is open, but the tower is closed (except for open house during the city's mid-June Harborfest).^[6]

1872 Lightkeeper's dwelling, looking towards Lake Michigan

See also

• Lighthouses in the United States

Notes

Further reading

External links

U.S. Coast Guard Archive

• Detroit News, Interactive map on Michigan lighthouses.
• Harrison, Timothy, South Haven Lights...Pages From Their Past, Lighthouse Digest, October, 1999.
• Interactive map of lighthouses in southern Lake Michigan.
• Lighthouse Central, Photographs, History, Directions and Way points for Southhaven South Pier Light, The Ultimate Guide to West Michigan Lighthouses by Jerry Roach (Publisher: Bugs Publishing LLC - 2005). ISBN 0-9747977-0-7.
• Lighthouse Friends (South Haven South Pier Light).
• Map of Michigan Lighthouse in PDF Format.
• Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy, South Haven Light.
• National Park Service South Haven South Pierhead Light, Maritime Heritage Project, Inventory of Historic Light Stations: Michigan Lighthouses, South Haven Light.
• Tag, Phyllis L., Great Lakes Lighthouse Research, Keepers of the South Haven Light.
• Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light, South Haven Pier Light.
• "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Michigan". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. 
• Wobser, David and Petill, Jerry, South Haven Light, boatnerd.com.

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