Michigan Lights - Manistee North and McGulpin Point

Manistee North Pierhead Light 
(Note the harbor light at left under metal arch)
 9/19/2017  dwm photo

The Manistee River flows into Lake Michigan, appropriately enough, at Manistee.

Two piers extend into the lake guarding the mouth of the river and the city's port.

On the north pier stands a 39 foot tower protecting the port and the boat traffic traveling in and out.

A Coast Guard station is in the harbor.  The day of our visit, a small boat of Coast Guardsmen passed as I walked to the end of the pier.

The first lighthouse in Manistee shined in 1870.

Looking back toward shore.
9/19/2017   dwm photo

It was 1927 before the North Pierhead Light took over.

The Lighthouse Friends site recounts the history for one of many busy commercial harbors on the lake.  The Manistee River stretches 190 miles from the lake into the lower peninsula.

European settlers brought 15 men and equipment to establish a sawmill in 1841.

The Manistee light is one of five on Lake Michigan's east coast with a surviving (and renovated) catwalk.

It was the only one I saw offering the opportunity to get a proper look.

The restored catwalk stretches 300 yards to the tower.
It was a safety feature to keep light keepers above the waves
in bad storms.    9/19/17   dwm

While the walk was closed, the stairs to it were open.

I climbed the stairs where I could balance the camera on the fence to get a cat eye's view of what it looked like on a calm day.

All these decades later, Manistee appears to be a bustling town with an active downtown which stretches along the river on either side.

I'd want to give a shout out to Hokanson Camera.  Earlier that day, I lost a lens cover, which was bad news with all the sand and wind.

I found what I needed and got some advice as well.  Check them out.

McGulpin's Point Lighthouse
9/20/2017   dwm photo

Close to the top of Michigan's "mitten" and a few miles west of Mackinaw City, we found McGulpin's Point Lighthouse.

It is in the early years of a restoration effort to restore it to its 1890 appearance.

When you drive into the parking lot, it seems like a strange place for a lighthouse since all you can see at ground-level are trees.

However, it stands on a hill.  From the lantern room (below) the Straits of Mackinac are visible.

Two miles from where the bridge would be installed, the Lighthouse was approved in 1865 to guide ships approaching from the west.  It went online in 1869.

In 1899, Congress approved a lighthouse at Old Mackinaw Point.  The move didn't turn off McGulpin's light immediately, but the end was coming.

McGulpin's Point Lantern Room   9/19/17  dwm

After 38 seasons, McGulpin's light was closed in 1906.  The house was sold and lantern removed.

When the land was put on the market in 2005, Emmet County agreed to purchase it.  A replica lantern room was put back in 2009.

It is expected to take years to finish the restoration.  The tower is open as is a gift shop and other rooms are available to view.

It is worth a visit while the work continues.