The Munising front and rear range lights may be less picturesque than the Grand Island East Channel lighthouse that they replaced in 1908, but they get the job of helping mariners navigate through the harbor just off the shore in Lake Superior at Munising, Michigan.
The weathered Grand Island East Channel lighthouse caused increasing worry at the dawn of the twentieth century because of its instability, rapidly increasing maritime traffic on the lake, increasingly larger ships and the fact that the lighthouse location on the island's southernmost tip made it difficult to spot until ships were too close to it to effectively use the beacon for guidance.
The United States Lighthouse Board determined that two range lights aimed at the East Channel and placed on the mainland at Munising so they appeared to line up one above the other was a more effective solution to help maritime traffic seeking harbor of refuge at that spot.
The Board further argued that new range lights would help save money in the long run in the face of ever-increasing maintenance and renovation costs needed to maintain the old East Channel Light, requesting $13,200 for range lights in 1905.
Plans called for two steel towers, with a front range light on low land close to the lake shore and a small rear range tower atop a hillside overlooking Munising Bay. The project also called for construction of a one-and-one-half story light keeper's dwelling by front range light tower.
The Grand Island East Channel light shined for the last time on October 29, 1908. The next day, Light keeper George Prior extinguished the light and sailed over to Munising to move equipment, supplies and his family to the new range lights as he assumed duties as keeper there.
Prior and his family would live in the brick seven-room keeper's dwelling, which was identical to light keepers' homes at Grand Marais on Lake Superior and Pointe Aux Barques on Lake Huron.
Today, the National Park Service uses the house as offices for NPS staff and visiting scientists.
The Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore acquired Munising's front and rear range lights from the Coast Guard in 2002 through the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act. The NPS renovated and repaired the structures' exterior to restore the two sites to their original 1908 appearance.
Munising's front range light stands 58-feet-tall and a mere 50 feet east of the front door of the keeper's dwelling. The cylindrical steel-plate-sheathed brick tower has an octagonal lantern room encircled by a gallery railing.
The front range light site sits in Munising on M-28 at Hemlock Street. Houses and commercial buildings surround the area, and it can be difficult to get a good photograph without a lot of power lines or other buildings in the way. A garage, small brick fuel storage building and a 70-foot-tall VHF tower also sit on the site.
The rear range light is 1,150 feet southwest of the front range tower, or about two blocks away on a slight hillside in a residential neighborhood at the end of Hemlock St. The cylindrical brick-and-cast iron stands 33-feet-tall
Red reflector lights continuously shine from both towers and are visible from 19 miles away on the lake during clear days.
Both tower sites are accessible to the public, but the towers are not open to the public.
Want to learn more about lighthouses in Michigan's Upper Peninsula? Check out The Ultimate Guide to Upper Michigan Lighthouses by Jerry Roach.
© Dominique King 2014 All rights reserved
Comments