Michigan's Whitefish Point Lighthouse sits at the eastern end of Lake Superior along a stretch of shoreline known as the "Shipwreck Coast", or even more chillingly, the "Graveyard of Ships".
The area about 10 miles north of the Upper Peninsula town of Paradise looks serene on a sunny summer day, but November brings strong winds with waves that can reach as high as 35 feet. There are few natural harbors between Whitefish Point and Grand Marias, about 80 miles west, and about 200 of 550 known Lake Superior shipwrecks over the years happened in this area.
In 1816, the Invincible, a 60-foot trading vessel, earned the dubious distinction of being the first ship known to sink here.
However, Lake Superior is still a major turning point for shipping traffic from Minnesota, Canada and Michigan's western Upper Peninsula headed 40 miles southeast to St. Mary's River and the Sault Ste. Marie Locks, then on to Lake Huron and other points south.
In 1847, Congress appropriated $5,000 to construct Whitefish Point light station on a 115.5-acre site with sand dunes and a cranberry bog.
Workers built a 65-foot-tall stone light tower and detached 1-1/2 story light keeper home made from stone shipped from nearby Tahquamenon Island. The location's remoteness added to the expense, for a final cost of $8,298.
The light at Whitefish Point began operating in 1849, just ahead Copper Harbor Lighthouse on Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula, making it them the two oldest light stations on Lake Superior.
The 1855 opening of the Soo Locks resulted in heavier shipping traffic in the area, and deterioration of the stone light tower at Whitefish Point caused by severe weather, led to calls improvements. A Fresnel lens replaced the tower's original lamps and reflectors in 1857. Construction began on a new light station in 1861.
The new 80-foot-tall tower was a six-foot-diameter cylinder with 1/4-inch cast-iron sheathing and wood paneling on the interior to reduce condensation. The tower stopped 17 feet above the ground at a covered passageway connecting it to a new 2-story light keepers' house.
Workers assembled pre-fab cast iron sections into a square pyramidal skeletal framework intended to reduce stress on the tower during high winds.
In 1895, renovation of the keepers' home created more room for added staff and their families. Staff also painted the light tower and its framework white (from its original dark brown) for higher daytime visibility.
In 1923, the U.S. Coast Guard built a rescue station at Whitefish Point and continued to staff the light station until its automation in 1971.
In 1973, Whitefish Point Light Station earned listing on the National Register of Historic Places and a state historical marker in 1974.
Fans of maritime lore may best know Whitefish Point for its connection to the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald in 1975. Electrical outages during the severe storms that night caused the Whitefish Point light to go out as the Fitzgerald attempted to make it to safety there.
In 1978, a group of divers, teachers, and educators with an interest in eastern Lake Superior shipwrecks established the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society (GLSHS).
Whitefish Township approached the GLSHS for help to preserve the light station. The Society received permission from the Coast Guard for a museum at the site and opened the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum in 1986. Congress officially transferred ownership of the Whitefish Point site to the GLSHS in 1996.
The museum and the lighthouse open from May through October, drawing 60,000 visitors in 2009. The Edmund Fitzgerald's bell and memorial to its crew is a major attraction. Visitors can also walk the passageway between the house and the light tower to peer up the narrow stairway, but concerns about high-voltage electricity means they cannot climb to the top of the tower.
The area is a major migratory flyway, and the Whitefish Point Bird Observatory is on the property. A rare pair of Piping Plovers nesting at Whitefish Point in 2009 had three offspring, making them the first hatched there in two decades.
A barrier-free boardwalk to the shoreline, erected in 1998, helps protect the fragile dunes and beach grass. A stairway at the end of the boardwalk allows visitors to walk out on the beach to walk or hunt agates.
Visitors can also stay overnight in one of five guest rooms in the restored vintage-1923 Coast Guard barracks building from April through mid-November.
Be sure to check out my stories Keweenaw history comes alive at Copper Harbor Lighthouse and Remembering the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Want to learn more about Lake Superior shipwrecks and lighthouses? Check out Shipwrecks of Lake Superior by James R. Marshall or Western Great Lakes Lighthouses by Ray Jones and Bruce Roberts.
© Dominique King 2010 All rights reserved
I've been to this lighthouse more than once. It is lovely - and also now I have that Edmund Fitzgerald song in my head. :-)
Posted by: Julie Henning | November 30, 2010 at 06:24 AM
Thank you for the opportunity to reengage with all the great memories I have of this very special part of Michigan.
We are all fortunate to have such a majestic piece of history that all these lighthouses provide.
I've since my boyhood had a fascination with these installations and feel they are the most intriguing part of my visits up north.
May they always exist and prosper for generations to come.
Posted by: Account Deleted | November 30, 2010 at 03:01 PM
Julie-I had to go ahead and do this story after doing the Edmund Fitzgerald post earlier. I've been hearing the song in my head ever since then!
Zudfunck-Thanks for stopping by. This is a beautiful part of the state, and you're right about how we're so lucky here to have so many lighthouses with so many great, historic stories.
Posted by: Dominique King | December 01, 2010 at 08:19 PM