Beaver Island Harbor Light (or St. James Light) is a lighthouse

Lighthouse

A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....

 located in St. James Township, Michigan

St. James Township, Michigan

St. James Township is a civil township of Charlevoix County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the township population was 307.-History:...

 on the northern end of Beaver Island

Beaver Island (Lake Michigan)

Beaver Island is the largest island in Lake Michigan and part of the Beaver Island archipelago. Once home to a unique American monarchy, the island is now a popular tourist and vacation destination....

 on Lake Michigan

Lake Michigan

Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...

. It has also been called "St. James Harbor Light" and "Whiskey Point Light." It is associated with a U.S. Coast Guard station, which was formerly a lifesaving station. The tower is constructed of Cream City Brick

Cream City brick

Cream City brick is a cream or light yellow-colored brick made from a clay found around Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the Menomonee River Valley and on the western banks of Lake Michigan...

.

Whiskey Point was originally named for the 1838 fur trading

Fur trade

The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...

 post that operated on the point, and for the commodity that was the post's chief item of sale. Soon afterward in the 1850s, St. James's Harbor on Beaver Island became established as a safe haven in a storm (an event quite common on Lake Michigan). The light was thus a natural extension of the emergency usage. The original light was constructed in 1856, and the light currently in use was constructed in 1870.

At this time, the harbor is used by the Beaver Island ferry, so the light is still an active aid to navigation.

External links

• Aerial photos, Beaver Harbor Lighthouse, marinas.com.
• Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University, Bibliography for Charlevoix County.
• History of the Beaver Island (Whiskey Point) Lights by the Beaver Beacon.
• Interactive map on Michigan lighthouses. Detroit News.
• Interactive map of Lights in Northern Lake Michigan, mapped by Google.
• Interactive map/list/information of lighthouses in northeastern Lake Michigan by LighthousesRus.
• Lighthouse Central, Photographs, History, Directions and Way points for Beaver Island Harbor Light, The Ultimate Guide to West Michigan Lighthouses by Jerry Roach (Publisher: Bugs Publishing LLC - 2005). ISBN 0-9747977-0-7.
• Lighthouse Friends, St. James Harbor Light (Beaver Island.)
• Lighthouses in the Mackinac Straits, Lighthouse Friends.
• Map of Michigan Lighthouses in PDF Format.
• Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy, St. James Harbor Light (Beaver Island).
• Michigan lighthouse fund, Beaver Island Harbor Light.
• National Park Service
  National Park Service
  The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
  
  , Inventory of Historic Light Stations, St. James Light at Beaver Harbor.
• Panoramic photo of Harbor, Light and Coast Guard Station, Beaver Island Ferry Co.
• Wobser, David, St. James Harbor Light (Beaver Island) at boatnerd.com.
• U.S. Coast Guard Search & Rescue Index