The Manistee Pierhead lights are a pair of active aids to navigation located on the north and south pier in the harbor of Manistee, Michigan

Manistee, Michigan

Manistee is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 6,586. It is the county seat of Manistee County. The name "Manistee" is from an Ojibwe word first applied to the principal river of the county. The derivation is not certain, but it may be from...

, "Lake Michigan’s Victorian Port City."

History

The first light was on the south pier in 1870. Unfortunately, it burnt in the Great fire of 1871, October 8, 1871, along with the town of Manistee. Coincidentally, Manistee burnt on on the same day as the Great Chicago Fire

Great Chicago Fire

The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned from Sunday, October 8, to early Tuesday, October 10, 1871, killing hundreds and destroying about in Chicago, Illinois. Though the fire was one of the largest U.S...

, Peshtigo Fire

Peshtigo Fire

The October 8, 1871 Peshtigo Fire in Peshtigo, Wisconsin, is the conflagration that caused the most deaths by fire in United States history, killing as many as 1,500. Occurring on the same day as the more infamous Great Chicago Fire, the Peshtigo Fire is mostly forgotten...

 in Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

, and fires in Port Huron

Port Huron Fire of 1871

The Port Huron Fire of Sunday October 8, 1871 burned a number of cities including White Rock and Port Huron, and much of the countryside in the "Thumb" region of the U.S. state of Michigan...

 and Holland

Holland, Michigan

Holland is a city in the western region of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated near the eastern shore of Lake Michigan on Lake Macatawa, which is fed by the Macatawa River ....

, Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

.

Two lighthouses were built, one on each pier in 1875. Over the years the lights have been moved several times, including moves to and from the mainland, and to and from the south to the north pier. Lights have been torn down and rebuilt.

The current tower is located on the north pier. It is constructed of cast iron, and was first listed in 1927. The tower is a white cylinder, and the keepers house is separate. The original lens was a Fifth Order Fresnel lens

Fresnel lens

A Fresnel lens is a type of lens originally developed by French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel for lighthouses.The design allows the construction of lenses of large aperture and short focal length without the mass and volume of material that would be required by a lens of conventional design...

. The tower has also been rebuilt as the pier has been extended. Other changes have involved the placement and configuration of the fog horn. The present tower is 39 feet (11.9 m) tall. The catwalk is one of only four that survive in the State of Michigan. National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

, Reference # 90000718 The tower is capped with a ten-sided steel lantern. The light uses a 5,000 candlepower incandescent electric bulb, and has a flashing mechanism which displays "a group occulting white light" over 30 seconds. Its focal plane is 55 feet (16.8 m), and is visible for 15 miles (24.1 km) in clear weather. The "Type C" diaphone

Diaphone

For Diaphone, the Noctuid moth species see Diaphone The diaphone was a noisemaking device best known for its use as a foghorn: it could produce deep, powerful tones able to carry a long distance...

 is powered by an electric compressor housed in the tower, and emits a group of three blasts every 30 seconds. There is also a radio beacon.

The northern pier light is located on the same side of the river as the Manistee Coast Guard station, and within shouting distance of the Manistee South pier light.

The south pier has a 37 feet (11.3 m) steel tower navigational aid. This was constructed when the lighthouse was moved to the north pier in 1927.

Manistee Pierhead Light was put up for sale under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act

National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act

The National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000 is American legislation creating a process for the transfer of federally-owned lighthouses into private hands...

 in 2009.

Directions

From US 31

U.S. Route 31

U.S. Route 31 is a long north–south highway connecting northern Michigan to southern Alabama, with its northern terminus at Interstate 75 near Mackinaw City, Michigan, and southern terminus at the combined U.S. Route 90 & U.S. Route 98 at Spanish Fort, Alabama...

go 1.5 miles (2.4 km) west on Memorial Drive, to the Fifth Ave. Beach and Park.

Further reading

• Bibliography on Michigan lighthouses.
• Crompton, Samuel Willard & Michael J. Rhein, The Ultimate Book of Lighthouses (2002) ISBN 1592231020; ISBN 978-1592231027.
• Hyde, Charles K., and Ann and John Mahan. The Northern Lights: Lighthouses of the Upper Great Lakes. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1995. ISBN 0814325548 ISBN 9780814325544.
• Jones, Ray & Bruce Roberts, American Lighthouses (Globe Pequot, September 1, 1998, 1st Ed.) ISBN 0762703245; ISBN 978-0762703241.
• Jones, Ray,The Lighthouse Encyclopedia, The Definitive Reference (Globe Pequot, January 1, 2004, 1st ed.) ISBN 0762727357; ISBN 978-0762727353.
• Lynn, Bruce. "A Light is on in the Graveyard [Whitefish Point]." Lighthouse Digest (Aug 1997), pp. 1–3.
• Noble, Dennis, Lighthouses & Keepers: U. S. Lighthouse Service and Its Legacy (Annapolis: U. S. Naval Institute Press, 1997). ISBN 1557506388; ISBN 9781557506382.
• Oleszewski, Wes, Great Lakes Lighthouses, American and Canadian: A Comprehensive Directory/Guide to Great Lakes Lighthouses, (Gwinn, Michigan: Avery Color Studios, Inc., 1998) ISBN 0-932212-98-0.
• Penrod, John, Lighthouses of Michigan, (Berrien Center, Michigan: Penrod/Hiawatha, 1998) ISBN 9780942618785 ISBN 9781893624238.
• Putnam, George R., Lighthouses and Lightships of the United States, (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1933).
• United States Coast Guard, Aids to Navigation, (Washington, DC: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1945).
• Wagner, John L., Michigan Lighthouses: An Aerial Photographic Perspective, (East Lansing, Michigan: John L. Wagner, 1998) ISBN 1880311011 ISBN 9781880311011.
• Wright, Larry and Wright, Patricia, Great Lakes Lighthouses Encyclopedia Hardback (Erin: Boston Mills Press, 2006) ISBN 1550463993.

External links

• Aerial photos, Manistee North Pierhead Light, marinas.com.
• Detroit News, Interactive map on Michigan lighthouses.
• Interactive map of Lights in Northern Lake Michigan, mapped by Google.
• Lighthouse Central, Photographs, History, Directions and Way points for Manistee North Pierhead Light, The Ultimate Guide to West Michigan Lighthouses by Jerry Roach (Publisher: Bugs Publishing LLC - 2005). ISBN 0-9747977-0-7.
• Lighthousefriends.com Manistee North Pierhead Light
• Manistee Pierhead Lighthouse Page from Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy.
• Lighthouses of Michigan, Manistee Pierhead lights.
• Map of lighthouses in northern Lake Michigan.
• Map of Michigan Lighthouse in PDF Format.
• Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy, Manistee North Pierhead light.
• National Park Service, National Maritime Heritage Program, Inventory of Historic Lights, Manistee North Pier.
• Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light, Manistee Pierhead Lighthouse.
• Wobser, David, Manistee North Pierhead Light, Boatnerd.com.