Manistee is a great little town with a lot of history, and I found the story about the fire that coincidentally occurred on the same day as the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 fascinating. Manistee's original lighthouse burned during that 1871 conflagration, but the busy port city quickly rebuilt their lighthouse and today has a pretty white light tower, along with a smaller range light, on Lake Michigan.
We've visited Manistee many times over the years and always enjoy visiting the lighthouse, especially during the warmer months when you can walk out to the north pierhead and get some nice close shots of the tower.
The winter months can bring an overcast quiet to the Manistee waterfront, but the lighthouse always offers plenty of picturesque possibilities.
Check out my story, Manistee North Pierhead Lighthouse awaits fate, for more about the lighthouse and Manistee's unique link to Chicago and its historic fire.
Planning a summer vacation Up North and looking for a family-friendly scenic trail that is also fully handicapped accessible? Check out my story about the 1 1/2 mile boardwalk along the Manistee River, Stroll from historic downtown Manistee Lake Michigan along city Riverwalk.
Thanks to Debbie Dubrow of Delicious Baby for creating and coordinating Photo Friday to link travel photos and blog posts across the Web.
© Dominique King 2010 All rights reserved
Great pictures! I like the one where you caught the splash of the water at the lighthouse. When I saw that picture it made me think of that Nickel Creek song, Lighthouse!
Posted by: Jen@TwoKidsandamap | January 22, 2010 at 05:07 PM
I mean Lighthouse's Tale...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARIr6S_0lAQ
Posted by: Jen@TwoKidsandamap | January 22, 2010 at 05:13 PM
So I have to keep checking myself and remind myself that this is not the ocean. I'm such a Cali-girl. Love the sand and snow. And you're right, it's so hard to get shots with those gray winter skies, but you did a great job.
Posted by: Carolina | January 22, 2010 at 07:32 PM
Lovely photos, as always.
It's great that they were able to rebuild the lighthouse so soon after the fire.
Posted by: gypsyscarlett | January 24, 2010 at 05:13 AM
Jen-Pretty song! Wonder where the lighthouse in that video is located (my guess is somewhere out east).
Carolina-The fact that Michigan (northern Michigan at least) has four distinct seasons makes it fun to photograph lighthouses at different times of the year. I wish we could get Up North more often in winter :)
Gypsy-I was a little surprised how quickly they seemed to manage to rebuild the lighthouse (and the town) so quickly after the 1871 fire. I only wish the process of acquiring it now would go at least as quickly for the city and volunteer groups!
Posted by: Dominique King | January 24, 2010 at 10:54 AM
It seems to me that there was a big fire in northern Wisconsin that fateful day as well.
Thanks for the Manistee info.
Posted by: Linda | February 13, 2010 at 01:39 PM
Linda-Yup, I linked out to some info about the Wisconsin fire in my January 19 post about the Manistee lighthouse.
Posted by: Dominique King | February 13, 2010 at 09:49 PM