Michigan Lights - Eagle Harbor

Eagle Harbor Lighthouse. 9/17/2022 dwm

As we drove south along the west side of the Keweenaw Peninsula we caught a breath-taking view of the lighthouse across Eagle Harbor.

An incoming storm front created a band of fog over the surface of Lake Superior that made the light appear to be floating on a cloud.

I set up my tripod and took several dozen photos while trying to match the self-timer with the light in the lantern. Using the self-timer reduces camera vibration when the shot is taken and the delay between pushing the shutter and the shot is tricky.

A view from the light's backyard. dwm photo

It was exciting to see a lighthouse shrouded with clouds from a mile or more away, several of my attempts are shown below.

After long-distance pictures, we drove around the cove then out the point to the light. It was near closing time for the Keweenaw Historical Society's gift shop and museum, so I quickly walked up to the house to take a look.

This is the second lighthouse at this location. It replaced the original wood tower, built in 1851, in 1871. This house was managed by a light keeper longer than most.

The kitchen as it might have looked in the 1930s.

There were 22 who served this portion of the lake between 1851 and 1982 when the last keeper left the station. The Coast Guard automated the light in 1980. It still manages the light, but the house and grounds have been run by Historical Society volunteers since 1982.

Eagle Harbor Lighthouse had keepers longer than any other Great Lake lighthouse except the one in Two Harbors, Minnesota which had keepers until 1981.

The kitchen, dining room, and parlor are available to tour and you can climb the tower stairs to a point. Since the Coast Guard manages the light, tourists are not allowed in the lantern.

The lighthouse parlor.

It is a beautiful lighthouse, inside and out.

This light is very important, especially early on. The Keweenaw Peninsula extends a long way into Lake Superior from the lake's south shore. If captains can't see it they could run aground.

Officials in Washington considered installing a 2nd Order Fresnel lens, the second largest light, so ships could see the signal farther out on the lake.

Stairs to the lantern in the Eagle Harbor light.

If you read last week's post about the Copper Harbor light, you might be wondering why that light wasn't as important. Copper Harbor is at the north end of the peninsula where the land flattens out. There are only a few miles difference, south to north, between the two, so captains were more likely to be alerted to danger by the light in Eagle Harbor.

Europeans first settled the Eagle Harbor area in 1844. Two years later Eagle Harbor Mining was searching for rich veins of copper known to exist in the Keweenaw.

While you can't live in the lighthouse, the old keeper's cottage is available for rent to members of the Keweenaw Historical Society, which is open to all.