Peninsula Point Light
Encyclopedia
The Peninsula Point lighthouse
is located on northern Lake Michigan
south of Stonington, Michigan. Note: Some of the USCG literature references this light as "Point Peninsula Light".
. It protrudes from the North shore of the lake, sitting astride the St. Martin Island
passage (the nautical 'highway' between Lake Michigan and Escanaba, Michigan
. A shoal
extends more than 2 miles into the lake, posing a hazard to navigation. The light thus had two purposes: (1) it marked a turning point; and (2) it warned mariners away from the rocks and shallows. Danger was inherent in the confluence of reefs and the shipping channels—which lead to safety at the docks of Escanaba
, Gladstone
, Fayette and Nahma, Michigan. These busy ports transported fish
, iron ore, lumber
, among other products. "The U.S. Government recognized the need for a lighthouse on the peninsula to aid navigation around these dangerous shoals and reefs separating Big Bay de Noc
, Little Bay de Noc
, and Green Bay of Lake Michigan."
Although Congress voted funds to build the lighthouse founded in 1856. On July 20, 1864, funds were again appropriated for the building of a lighthouse on the Stonington Peninsula on July 20, 1864. It was not built until 1865 (following the United States Civil War. It maintained as an active aid to navigation until 1934.
Point Peninsula Light's first keeper
was Mr. Charles Beggs, who died there in 1887. The second keeper was Mr. Henry Corgan. Mr. Peter Knutsen was third. In 1889 Captain James D. Armstrong was appointed keeper and this was home to him and his family until 1922.
In 1922, by the United States Lighthouse Service
installed an automatic acetylene
light to replace the hand operated oil lamp. Thus, it was no longer necessary to occupy the site since the light was automated. Captain Armstrong continued to be responsible for Peninsula Point until 1931.
Thereafter, the Fourth Order lens was removed from the lantern and replaced by a 300 mm lens equipped with a 300 candlepower
acetylene flasher Dalén light
and sun valve
. Upon this installation, the light's characteristic
was changed to repeated 1-second flash followed by a nine-second eclipse, exhibited initially on the evening of May 20, 1922.
When the Minneapolis Shoal Light went into service. this light was decommissioned and abandoned in 1936. Its tower is open for visitors to climb into the cast iron
lantern room at the top of a cast iron spiral staircase. The attached lighthouse keeper
's residence burnt in 1959, after it had been restored by the Stonington, Michigan Grange.
In 1937, the USDA-Forest Service "was granted custodianship." The building was repaired and public picnic grounds were constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps
. The Stonington Grange
took over maintenance of the structure and grounds. In 1949 the Grange won first prize in their State contest for their work at the lighthouse.
The house portion burned to the ground in 1959. Debris was cleared and damage to the north side of the tower repaired in 1962 by the USDA Forest Service.
The lighthouse tower is managed by the National Forest Service, which maintains a webpage for the light and picnic area.
Because of their placement on points of land, lighthouses are often situated on migratory pathways, and are so-called 'bird traps.' See Whitefish Point Light and Tawas Point Light
.
The Stonington Peninsula
plays a crucial role in the migration of the Monarch butterfly
, which gathers there in September before migrating across Lake Michigan
to Door County, Wisconsin
. In the fall, thousands of monarch butterflies converge on the area to rest before their migration across Green Bay. It has been called the Point Pelee of the Upper Peninsula, and is an important bird area
. The location is also an important location for migratory birds, and has been deemed to be a successful effort by the Hiawatha National Forest.
The area is said to be a rock hound's paradise. "The rocky shoreline yields fossils estimated at 400-500 million years old."
area. There are ten tables and grills on the lawns surrounding the tower. Pit toilets
are available, as well as drinking water.
The light tower is located at the end of County Road 513 from
US 2
, about 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Rapid River, Michigan
. The road that "progressively gets narrower and rougher, but the climb up the spiral staircase
and the view from the ten-sided
tower (which is open to the public), and "is worth the trip." The view is said to be "spectacular" so "Be sure to bring you camera." The road's last mile is "not recommended for recreational vehicles or trailers over 16 feet long or 8 feet high." A parking area for RV's is available at the beginning of the narrowing road.
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....
is located on northern 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...
south of Stonington, Michigan. Note: Some of the USCG literature references this light as "Point Peninsula Light".
Service
The point on the Stonington Peninsula is the southern extension of the Niagara EscarpmentNiagara Escarpment
The Niagara Escarpment is a long escarpment, or cuesta, in the United States and Canada that runs westward from New York State, through Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois...
. It protrudes from the North shore of the lake, sitting astride the St. Martin Island
St. Martin Island
St. Martin Island is located off the Garden Peninsula in Delta County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the southernmost island in Michigan that is part of a line of islands at the mouth of the bay of Green Bay and is part of the Niagara Escarpment....
passage (the nautical 'highway' between Lake Michigan and Escanaba, Michigan
Escanaba, Michigan
Escanaba is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, located in the banana belt on the state's Upper Peninsula. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 13,140, making it the third-largest city in the Upper Peninsula after Marquette and Sault Ste. Marie...
. A shoal
Shoal
Shoal, shoals or shoaling may mean:* Shoal, a sandbank or reef creating shallow water, especially where it forms a hazard to shipping* Shoal draught , of a boat with shallow draught which can pass over some shoals: see Draft...
extends more than 2 miles into the lake, posing a hazard to navigation. The light thus had two purposes: (1) it marked a turning point; and (2) it warned mariners away from the rocks and shallows. Danger was inherent in the confluence of reefs and the shipping channels—which lead to safety at the docks of Escanaba
Escanaba, Michigan
Escanaba is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, located in the banana belt on the state's Upper Peninsula. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 13,140, making it the third-largest city in the Upper Peninsula after Marquette and Sault Ste. Marie...
, Gladstone
Gladstone, Michigan
Gladstone is a city in Delta County in the U.S. state of Michigan. First settled in 1877, Gladstone's original name was Saunders Point. The population was 5,032 at the 2000 census....
, Fayette and Nahma, Michigan. These busy ports transported fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
, iron ore, lumber
Lumber
Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....
, among other products. "The U.S. Government recognized the need for a lighthouse on the peninsula to aid navigation around these dangerous shoals and reefs separating Big Bay de Noc
Big Bay de Noc
Big Bay de Noc is a bay in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The bay, which opens into Lake Michigan's Green Bay, is enclosed by Delta County...
, Little Bay de Noc
Little Bay de Noc
Little Bay de Noc is a bay in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The bay opens into Lake Michigan's Green Bay.The bay, consisting of approximately 30,000 acres , is enclosed by Delta County...
, and Green Bay of Lake Michigan."
Although Congress voted funds to build the lighthouse founded in 1856. On July 20, 1864, funds were again appropriated for the building of a lighthouse on the Stonington Peninsula on July 20, 1864. It was not built until 1865 (following the United States Civil War. It maintained as an active aid to navigation until 1934.
Point Peninsula Light's first keeper
Lighthouse keeper
A lighthouse keeper is the person responsible for tending and caring for a lighthouse, particularly the light and lens in the days when oil lamps and clockwork mechanisms were used. Keepers were needed to trim the wicks, replenish fuel, wind clockworks and perform maintenance tasks such as cleaning...
was Mr. Charles Beggs, who died there in 1887. The second keeper was Mr. Henry Corgan. Mr. Peter Knutsen was third. In 1889 Captain James D. Armstrong was appointed keeper and this was home to him and his family until 1922.
In 1922, by the United States Lighthouse Service
United States Lighthouse Service
The United States Lighthouse Service, also known as the Bureau of Lighthouses, was the agency of the US Federal Government that was responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of all lighthouses in the United States from the time of its creation in 1910 until 1939...
installed an automatic acetylene
Acetylene
Acetylene is the chemical compound with the formula C2H2. It is a hydrocarbon and the simplest alkyne. This colorless gas is widely used as a fuel and a chemical building block. It is unstable in pure form and thus is usually handled as a solution.As an alkyne, acetylene is unsaturated because...
light to replace the hand operated oil lamp. Thus, it was no longer necessary to occupy the site since the light was automated. Captain Armstrong continued to be responsible for Peninsula Point until 1931.
Thereafter, the Fourth Order lens was removed from the lantern and replaced by a 300 mm lens equipped with a 300 candlepower
Candlepower
Candlepower is a now-obsolete unit which was used to express levels of light intensity in terms of the light emitted by a candle of specific size and constituents...
acetylene flasher Dalén light
Dalén light
The Dalén light was the predominant form of light source in lighthouses from the 1900s through the 1960s, when electric lighting had become dominant. The system was invented by Gustaf Dalén and marketed by his company AGA. Dalén later invented the AGA cooker in 1922. The Dalén light is notable...
and sun valve
Sun valve
A sun valve is a form of flow control valve, notable because it earned its inventor Gustaf Dalén the Nobel prize in physics....
. Upon this installation, the light's characteristic
Characteristic
Characteristic may refer to:In physics and engineering, any characteristic curve that shows the relationship between certain input and output parameters, for example:...
was changed to repeated 1-second flash followed by a nine-second eclipse, exhibited initially on the evening of May 20, 1922.
When the Minneapolis Shoal Light went into service. this light was decommissioned and abandoned in 1936. Its tower is open for visitors to climb into the cast iron
Cast iron
Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
lantern room at the top of a cast iron spiral staircase. The attached lighthouse keeper
Lighthouse keeper
A lighthouse keeper is the person responsible for tending and caring for a lighthouse, particularly the light and lens in the days when oil lamps and clockwork mechanisms were used. Keepers were needed to trim the wicks, replenish fuel, wind clockworks and perform maintenance tasks such as cleaning...
's residence burnt in 1959, after it had been restored by the Stonington, Michigan Grange.
In 1937, the USDA-Forest Service "was granted custodianship." The building was repaired and public picnic grounds were constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps
Civilian Conservation Corps
The Civilian Conservation Corps was a public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men from relief families, ages 18–25. A part of the New Deal of President Franklin D...
. The Stonington Grange
Grange
-Buildings:* Grange House , Bo'ness, Scotland, built in 1564, and demolished in 1906* Hamilton Grange National Memorial, a historic house in New York City...
took over maintenance of the structure and grounds. In 1949 the Grange won first prize in their State contest for their work at the lighthouse.
The house portion burned to the ground in 1959. Debris was cleared and damage to the north side of the tower repaired in 1962 by the USDA Forest Service.
Current status
The light is listed on the National Register of Historical Places, Reference #75000941, Name of Listing: PENINSULA POINT LIGHTHOUSE. It is not listed on the state registry.The lighthouse tower is managed by the National Forest Service, which maintains a webpage for the light and picnic area.
Bird and Butterfly Migrations
Under water the escarpment forms the northern tip of Wisconsin's Door PeninsulaDoor Peninsula
The Door Peninsula is a peninsula in eastern Wisconsin, separating the southern part of the Green Bay from Lake Michigan. The peninsula begins in northern Brown and Kewaunee counties and proceeds northeast to include all of Door County. It is the western portion of the Niagara Escarpment. Well...
Because of their placement on points of land, lighthouses are often situated on migratory pathways, and are so-called 'bird traps.' See Whitefish Point Light and Tawas Point Light
Tawas Point Light
Tawas Point Light is located in the Tawas Point State Park off Tawas Bay in Lake Huron in Baldwin Township in Northern Michigan.-History:In 1850, Congress appropriated $5,000 for the construction of a lighthouse. In 1852, construction started, and the lighthouse was commissioned in 1853. After the...
.
The Stonington Peninsula
Peninsula
A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....
plays a crucial role in the migration of the Monarch butterfly
Monarch butterfly
The Monarch butterfly is a milkweed butterfly , in the family Nymphalidae. It is perhaps the best known of all North American butterflies. Since the 19th century, it has been found in New Zealand, and in Australia since 1871 where it is called the Wanderer...
, which gathers there in September before migrating across 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...
to Door County, Wisconsin
Door County, Wisconsin
Door County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of 2000, the population was 27,961. Its county seat is Sturgeon Bay. Door County is a popular vacation and tourist destination, especially for residents of Wisconsin and Illinois....
. In the fall, thousands of monarch butterflies converge on the area to rest before their migration across Green Bay. It has been called the Point Pelee of the Upper Peninsula, and is an important bird area
Important Bird Area
An Important Bird Area is an area recognized as being globally important habitat for the conservation of bird populations. Currently there are about 10,000 IBAs worldwide. The program was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife International...
. The location is also an important location for migratory birds, and has been deemed to be a successful effort by the Hiawatha National Forest.
The area is said to be a rock hound's paradise. "The rocky shoreline yields fossils estimated at 400-500 million years old."
Getting there
The USDA Forest Service operates the grounds as a picnicPicnic
In contemporary usage, a picnic can be defined simply as a pleasure excursion at which a meal is eaten outdoors , ideally taking place in a beautiful landscape such as a park, beside a lake or with an interesting view and possibly at a public event such as before an open air theatre performance,...
area. There are ten tables and grills on the lawns surrounding the tower. Pit toilets
Outhouse
An outhouse is a small structure separate from a main building which often contained a simple toilet and may possibly also be used for housing animals and storage.- Terminology :...
are available, as well as drinking water.
The light tower is located at the end of County Road 513 from
US 2U.S. Route 2
U.S. Route 2 is an east–west U.S. Highway spanning across the northern continental United States. US 2 consists of two segments connected by various roadways in southern Canada...
, about 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Rapid River, Michigan
Rapid River, Michigan
Rapid River is an unincorporated community in Masonville Township, Delta County in the U.S. state of Michigan.It is situated on the northern end of the Little Bay de Noc at , between the mouths of the Tacoosh and Rapid rivers with the mouth of the Whitefish River just to the east. U.S. Highway 2...
. The road that "progressively gets narrower and rougher, but the climb up the spiral staircase
Spiral staircase
Spiral staircase may refer to:* A type of stairway characterized by its spiral shape* The Spiral Staircase , a 1946 American psychological thriller film* The Spiral Staircase , a 1975 British film, a remake of the 1946 film...
and the view from the ten-sided
Decahedron
In geometry, a decahedron is a polyhedron with 10 faces. There are 32300 topologically distinct decahedra and none are regular, so this name is ambiguous.With regular faces:* Octagonal prism * Square antiprism...
tower (which is open to the public), and "is worth the trip." The view is said to be "spectacular" so "Be sure to bring you camera." The road's last mile is "not recommended for recreational vehicles or trailers over 16 feet long or 8 feet high." A parking area for RV's is available at the beginning of the narrowing road.
External links
- Interactive map on Michigan lighthouses, Detroit News
- Interactive map of Lights in Northern Lake Michigan, which does not include Peninsula Point Light, at Google mapsGoogle MapsGoogle Maps is a web mapping service application and technology provided by Google, free , that powers many map-based services, including the Google Maps website, Google Ride Finder, Google Transit, and maps embedded on third-party websites via the Google Maps API...
- Peninsula Point lighthouse and picnic area, Hiawatha National Forest, webpage.