Michigan Lights - Port Sanilac

The 59 foot tower at Port Sanilac.
9/25/2019 dwm photo

If you ever imagined living in a lighthouse, I suspect a home like the one in Port Sanilac, Michigan might match the dream.

Similar to the Harbor Beach lighthouse, Port Sanilac fills in the last dark stretch between Fort Gratiot (next week's light) and Pointe Aux Barques.

Ten years after the Harbor Beach house lit-up the darkness, a light for Port Sanilac received Congressional approval.

A lantern room and spiral staircase was built and delivered to Michigan that same year.  The contractor began work on the foundation and keeper's house during the summer of 1886, it went into operation October 20, 1886.

 According to its history at LighthouseFriends, the first keeper was Richard Morris.  Morris was an assistant keeper at Thunder Bay when he was transferred to Sanilac.  His daughter married a keeper, who took over when he moved to Michigan.

The house became privately owned in
1928.  The light continues to be
controlled by the Coast Guard.
9/25/2019 dwm photo

Morris resigned in 1892, so his son-in-law William Holmes and Morris' daughter, Grace, could move their three children to a lighthouse with a nearby school.

William Holmes served for years before becoming ill in 1920, which required Grace to take on most of the physical labor.  He died in 1926.  She served two more years before retiring and moving next door - spending nearly her entire life in or around lighthouses.

A restaurateur from Detroit bought the house for $4,000 in 1928 - the family bought the tower from the Coast Guard in 2000.  It was purchased by an lighthouse aficionado and historian in 2014 for $855,000.  He happens to be the 5-times great grandson of the first light-keepers at Pointe Aux Barques.

Because it is privately owned, we didn't get inside the fence, but were able to park on the street and see it from a breakwater.  The local historical society gives tours on Fridays during the summer.

Oil house and Port Sanilac Lighthouse. 9/25/19 (dwm)

This light is near the center of this small community.

From State Highway 25, you can't see the tower, but turn east downtown and it isn't hard to find with plenty of parking along tree-lined streets.

Check out the light house home page for a list of the lights featured so far, and please return next Sunday for the Fort Gratiot light.