Michigan Lights - Cheboygan

Cheboygan's Crib Light next to
the Cheboygan River
9/21/2017     dwm photo

This is the end of the Michigan Lights from our trip last fall.  We traveled up the west coast of Lake Michigan to Mackinaw and then west along the Upper Peninsula.

When we realized there were a few more lights not far from Mackinaw City, a side trip to the community of Cheboygan added 4 more to the list.

Well, there were two trips to Cheboygan.

My list was back at the motel while we drove to the Lake Huron community.  I figured the lights would be easy to locate.

Judgement was bad on that score.  The Range Light was the only one I found.  After looking at the list we returned for the other three, starting with the Crib light.

The Crib Light was built off shore on a crib made from local lumber in 1884.

At the end of its working life it was towed to shore and placed on a concrete foundation where its become the symbol for the lakeside city.

The light is part of
Gordon Turner Park
(dwm)

The Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers stepped in to restore the tower, and in 2003 it was labeled excess property and given to the city.  It is the focal point of a beautiful lake side park.

Up river from the Crib Light is a house which looks out of place amidst industrial buildings and a Coast Guard pier.  From downtown it looked empty.  It wasn't until we pulled past it and saw it from the east that it looked like a lighthouse.

The Cheboygan River a long time ago was the way to get lumber from the forest to the mills and on to market.  In 1888, more than 100 million board feet of lumber shipped out of Cheboygan.

As you might recall from earlier lighthouse blogs, range lights work in tandem to provide a clear signal into port for boats on the water.

Cheboygan River Front Range Lighthouse
9/21/2017  dwm

The front range light worked with a rear light further west 68 feet high while the front light was 42 feet.  When the lights lined up for the ship on the lake, it found its bearings.

Since the Front Range Lighthouse was declared excess property the Michigan Lighthouse Assistance Program began providing financial help in addition to dollars raised locally to preserve and show off their history.

Guest keepers can volunteer to live in the house and open it to visitors on summer weekends and holidays.

Off shore, 1 mile northwest of the Cheboygan Crib Light is the Fourteen Foot Shoal Light (below right).

It went into service in 1930, replacing an expensive light ship to keep boats from shallow hazards on Lake Huron along the southern route between Michigan and Bois Blanc Island.

My photo used every bit of zoom available on the camera and more of a close-up after downloading the picture.

Fourteen Foot Shoal Light photographed from the
Crib Light.  9/21/17  dwm photo

Judging by a website dedicated to the Fourteen Foot Shoal Light, I'm confident it is the light.  I couldn't tell with vision alone.

The Poe Reef Light (left) was even farther away.

Both it and the Fourteen Foot Shoal light are privately owned, so I suppose in this case a man can be an island.

Poe Reef Light from the Cheboygan shore.  9/21/17
(dwm phtoto)

The Poe Light was used before the Fourteen Foot light by a year under human oversight until 1974 when it was automated.  It sold at auction September 2017 for a $112,111.

I hope to get back to the Michigan lights I missed on the last trip.  There are offshore lights I hope to see from an excursion boat.

But for the Fourteen Foot and Poe Reef lights, I suspect laying on the concrete breakwater at the mouth of the Cheboygan River is as close as I'll get.

Find more Lighthouse blog posts here.