Michigan Lights - St Clair Flats and Range

The St. Clair Flats Range Lights mark the original path
up stream.  9/25/2019 dwm photo

Harsen's Island is separated from mainland Michigan by the St. Clair River.  A private service, Champion's Auto Ferry, is the only way across.

It's a short trip, $10 round trip, so it's not a long wait. Once on Harsen's Island, we headed south along the main road searching for the St. Clair Flats Range Lights and the more recent Canal Range Lights.

The lights on the Flats were requested in 1837, because mariners sometimes took two or three weeks to navigate the shallow water. 

At night, passage was impossible, forcing boats to wait in Anchor Bay for daylight to complete the trip onto the St. Clair River.

We drove south until the road stopped.  Off-shore, perhaps a mile away stand the Flats Range lights.  In 1907, they were already obsolete as only small boats used the original passage.  The house was torn down in 1934.

By 1989, the two beacons were in sad shape.  A local man organized efforts to protect and preserve them.  It is a long, slow process, but the front light is again helping local boats with a white-flashing light.

The Rear Canal Range light. 9/25/19
dwm photo

The Canal Range Lights were more difficult to find.  The rear light (photo at left) caught my attention, but I couldn't see the buildings near it.

The water in the Great Lakes were high in the fall of 2019 and continues to be higher than normal, which may have made a difference.

The front range light wasn't visible - hidden by lakeside homes.

The Canal Range Lights guide ships into a newer canal with easier access to the St. Clair.

The Champion's Ferry gives a quick trip across the river.
9/25/2019  dwm photo

These lights are much newer, built in 1934.

The lights came under control of the Coast Guard in 1939.  By the late 1990s, they didn't need the house which had been used as a vacation place for Coasties.

The President of the Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy bought it to restore.  He also owns the Port Sanilac light further upstream.

See more of the lighthouse collection by clicking here.