Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario truly merit their name — the GREAT Lakes. These enormous fresh-water seas, hundreds of miles deep and across, are fed by countless rivers and scattered with innumerable islands. The world’s largest concentration of lighthouses dot the shores (over 300), making this area a treasure trove for lovers of these lifesaving beacons of navigation. Over 50 lighthouses grace Lake Huron alone, seven in and around the area of Thunder Bay near Alpena, on Michigan’s east coast. A visit to three — Forty Mile Point Lighthouse, The Old and New Presque Isle Lighthouses — recalls the days of storms and shipwrecks (boats as they are known on the lakes).

Lake Huron (the second largest of the lakes), and this Bay, in particular, has been deadly for boats. Twelve hundred wrecks litter its shores, with one of the worst disasters having claimed 27 ships in 1905 after a storm boasting 90 mph winds and 40 ft waves swept across the waters. It was precisely to minimize these losses that the lighthouses were built.

Forty Mile Point Lighthouse, north of Alpena, looks like a little red schoolhouse. Sitting on a bluff overlooking the water, it is still active today, guiding mariners on their way to Lake Superior. Put into service in 1897, the white 53 foot tall, 12-foot square brick tower is attached to a red brick keeper’s house (now a museum). On the beach below, a portion of the hull of the Joseph S. Fay, which sank in the 1905 storm, sits on the sand, her 150-foot long wooden side accented by the metal rods and spikes which continue to hold her remains together. If you have a hankering to live in a lighthouse, this one has a volunteer assistant lighthouse keeper program that lets you spend a week running the place.

Closer to Alpena, the Old and New Lighthouses on Presque Isle (which means ‘almost an island’ in French) stand a mile apart on a peninsula forming one of the refuge harbors between the Straits of Mackinaw and Port Huron. The Old Light, completed in 1840 is one of the oldest surviving lighthouses on the Great Lakes, its conical stone and brick tower rising 30 feet into the sky. As you climb the circular staircase to the light for a commanding view of Lake Huron, below you is the bronze bell from Lansing City, Michigan. Weighing 3,425 lbs, it is heavier and larger than the Liberty Bell. Nearby is an enormous ship’s anchor. According to legends, the lighthouse is said to be haunted, perhaps by the ghost of George Parris, the former lighthouse keeper. Shortly after his death in 1971, reports began to emerge of an amber light that appears in the tower from time to time, even though all the wires have been disconnected.

Less than 30 years after its inauguration, the Old Light was replaced by the New Lighthouse, constructed one mile away on the north end of Presque Isle peninsula. It is still active today; at 109 feet, it is the tallest lighthouse accessible to the public on the Great Lakes. The view from the top of the light is breathtaking. Four arched windows punctuate the tower below the wrought iron brackets supporting the gallery and the dark green walkway. A red rooftop holds the light beacon which is attached to the keeper’s house by a short brick enclosed passageway. Nearby a tiny museum houses a collection of maritime artifacts including steam whistles and fog bells.

Alpena is home to the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center where you can visit the shipwrecks along the coast, either by glass-bottomed boat or by diving. Alpena also hosts the annual Great Lakes Lighthouse Festival in October during which time tours are organized to many of the Lake Huron lighthouses. With the advent of technology, many of these lighthouses are no longer required to guide boats and mariners through the storms and shoals for which these lakes are famous. However, they continue to fascinate visitors from around the world and should be preserved for future generations as bright beacons of our past.

IF YOU GO
Forty Mile Point Lighthouse: Check for directions and opening times.
Presque Isle Lighthouses (Tel 989-595-9917) Open mid-May to mid-October 7 days a week, 0900-1800.
Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center

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