Michigan Lights - Grand Traverse Lighthouse

Grand Traverse Lighthouse   5/20/2018  dwm photo

Like it's neighbor across the water to the east, the Mission Point Lighthouse, the Grand Traverse Lighthouse requires a trip up one of the fingers of Michigan's lower peninsula.

The road winds near the shore and through beautiful country, so it takes longer than you might expect 17 miles to require.

It is worth it.

The Grand Traverse Lighthouse is part of Michigan's Leelanau State Park, so you will need a park pass to see it.

Traverse Bay is
behind the house as
it faces north. 5/20/18
(dwm)

If the home is open for tours, there is likely a separate fee for that.

This is the second lighthouse, built in 1858 to replace the one built seven years before which was too far away to guide boats on Lake Michigan.  The new location allowed the house to serve both.

This lighthouse was manned longer than most, until 1972 when it was automated when the light was moved off shore.  A group of locals, now known as the Grand Traverse Lighthouse Museum formed in 1984 to rescue the abandoned building.

They succeeded with a museum which recaptures life on this isolated spit of land.  You can find more of its history at its Lighthousefriends page.

The day of our visit, the air was fresh with cool breezes off the lake.  Even in the 21st century, the long road to the house emphasizes how far it is from the rest of the world.

The not for profit group operating the house didn't have it open when we stopped, so we missed learning and see more of its past.

Keeper James McCormick (1923-38)
designed this planter and other
stonework on the grounds which
remain.  (5/20/18    dwm)

A son of a light keeper, who lived there as a child, got involved with restoration efforts and shared family stories about the house.

His father, James McCormick, served 15 years.  The isolated life as a keeper requires finding ways to best use spare time and he did.

Stone fences, stairs, a birdhouse, and garden are reminders of that life and the people who lived it.

I missed the Grand Traverse Lighthouse during a trip through the area in the fall of 2017.  We stopped at nearly a dozen lights and this one was too far off the route to include.

Thankfully, a trip back to the area in 2018 took us back to northern Michigan.

The Grand Traverse Lighthouse and the scenic drive on the Leelanau Peninsula are certainly worth it.