Grand Island East Channel Lighthouse

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

The Grand Island East Channel Lighthouse is a wooden lighthouse structure that was completed in 1868. It is located on the southeast shore of Grand Island, Michigan, across from Munising. It was also known locally as the Grand Island East Channel Light. It was intended to lead boats from Lake Superior through the channel east of Grand Island into the Munising Harbor in low light and foggy conditions. However, the light was hard to see from Lake Superior, and maintenance was difficult. The waters around the harbor are littered with shipwrecks because of the dangerous waters. Munising Range Lights were constructed elsewhere. This lighthouse was removed from service by 1913 at the latest. Afterwards, the lighthouse was neglected. Restoration efforts were undertaken in 2000. The lighthouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It's located on private land, so it can't be accessed by land. However, many people view the lighthouse by taking boat or plane tours or via private boats. It can also be viewed from Sand Point in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

Images

Grand Island East Channel Lighthouse in 2009

Grand Island East Channel Lighthouse in 1931

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

A lighthouse was constructed on the northern tip of Grand Island in 1856. But mariners needed additional lights to help guide them to safe anchorages at the southern end of the island. In 1860, Congress appropriated $6,000 for the construction of “one or two beacon lights.” They provided another $10,000 in 1866, and it was decided to place the lighthouse at a place known as the Thumb. The eastern entrance to the bay is bounded by the eastern lobe of Grand Island, known as the Thumb, and the mainland’s Sand Point. During the summer of 1868, a wooden lighthouse was constructed atop a stone foundation there. The lighthouse consists of a square wooden tower attached to the gable end of a one-and-a-half-story keeper’s house. It initially used a steamer's lens. However, by 1869 it was using a fifth-order lens.

The lighthouse was struck by lightning in 1891. This caused damage to the tower and the dwelling. In 1898, the original pier for accessing the lighthouse was replaced with a 50-foot-long, 8-foot-wide pier. Storms that same year eroded the shoreline. Plans were made to move the lighthouse back 200 feet, but this was reconsidered. Instead, an 8-foot-by-24-foot crib was built in front of the lighthouse in 1899, and the intervening space was filled in. A second crib was built east of the lighthouse to protect the beach.

In 1905, the Lighthouse Board announced that the lighthouse no longer served its purpose. As they saw it, mariners using the East Channel couldn't see the light until they were close to it. Additionally, a shipwreck lay just north of the narrowest part of the channel. in their words, the lighthouse was “difficult and expensive to maintain.: So they requested $13,200 for a pair range lights on the mainland that would be more visible at greater distances. In 1906, they had to rebuild 100 feet of shoreline protection in front of the lighthouse, and another 360 feet of protection to the north of it. In 1907, Congress approved $15,000 for range lights at Munising. Two metal towers and a keeper's house were built there in 1908. The light at Grand Island East Channel Lighthouse was last lit on the night of Oct. 29, 1908.

In 1913, the 40-acre lighthouse reservation was sold to 20 members of the Munising House Lodge. Over the intervening decades, shares in the lighthouse were combined and changed hands. But there was little interest in preserving the structure until 1999. That year, the Alger County Historical Society formed the East Channel Lighthouse Rescue to save the lighthouse. Their goal wasn't to restore it to its period appearance, but to keep its current rustic appearance while stabilizing and strengthening it. Restoration work was done from 2002 to 2005, thanks to donations from several groups and the work of many volunteers.

Sources

Hiawatha National Forest - Grand Island East Channel Lighthouse, USDA Forest Service. Accessed July 21st 2020. https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/hiawatha/recarea/?recid=18178.

Grand Island East Channel Lighthouse, Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy. Accessed July 21st 2020. http://www.michiganlights.com/grandislandeastchannellh.htm.

Grand Island East Channel Lighthouse, Lighthouse Friends. Accessed July 21st 2020. https://lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=726.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

Photograph courtesy U.S. Coast Guard