Michigan Lights - Mendota (Bete Grise)

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Lake Superior is to the left in the photo.
 As we drove up the east side of the Keweenaw Peninsula, the next lighthouse was a survivor after being shut down four-and-a-half-months after it was activated.

 It was originally called Mendota after the mining operation on the north side of Lac La Belle.  Congress approved funds for the light in 1867 and the light was turned on in November, 1869.
 
 The location of the light was decided to be of no use because the mine wasn't successful and not enough ships wanted to use the government built canal to reach the lake.

The canal flows downstream to Lake Superior.
Twenty years later, the light was reborn because this section of the peninsula offered ships shelter in a storm.  Lac La Belle could be a shelter during daytime but at night ships couldn't find it without a light.  In 1895 the Mendota Lighthouse was back on line.

It was home to a keeper until 1933.  The longest-serving keeper raised 8 children with his wife in the lighthouse.

In 1933 the Coast Guard put a light on top of a skeleton steel tower while the house was purchased at auction. 

It's been owned privately ever since.  Our vantage point was reached by coming around the west side of the lake then driving to the end of the sand bar which separated Lake Superior from Lac La Belle.

Bete Grise Bay on Superior.
 We stopped on the sand bar on our way to the next light, listening to the waves applauding as they hit the shore. 

 The place where we parked to look at the house and take pictures was a cul-de-sac sized turning circle connected to a make-shift boat landing.  Private houses were on both sides so I didn't get to scout for additional places to photograph it.

I am thankful the trees didn't hide the house from view.  It isn't hidden from boats on the Bete Grise bay either as it welcomes recreational boaters into a safe harbor when the winds blow up on the big lake.

The Mendota Lighthouse was home to two keepers, one in 1870 when it opened and 1895-1928 when it re-opened.
All photos by David Mossner, September 17, 2022
 

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