South Manitou Island Light
Encyclopedia
South Manitou Island Lighthouse is located on South Manitou Island
in Lake Michigan
, 16 miles (25.7 km) west of Leland, Michigan
. It is in Leelanau County
in western Northern
Michigan
.
William N. Burton, who had a thriving lumbering business. It had a Lewis lamp
, which was upgraded to a fourth order Fresnel lens
. Deterioration of the building led to the lighthouse being completely rebuilt in 1858. Over time this light was found to be deficient, and the current lighthouse was built in 1872. With a third order Fresnel lens
sitting 91 feet (27.7 m) above the foundation, this light boasted a focal plane of 104 feet. The site is currently under the control of the National Park Service, in conjunction with the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places
. The lighthouse was decommissioned in 1958, and is presently a museum. It is not operational.
“The lighthouse on South Manitou Island is, or was while it was still in operation, perhaps the most beautiful on the Great Lakes,”
Guide Emily McKinney stated: “You’re not only looking at Lake Michigan out there, you’re looking at the Manitou Passage,” she said. “It’s a big stretch of water between the Straits of Mackinac in Chicago, 300 miles (482.8 km). If you use you imagination, take yourselves back 150 years ago.” The passage was preferred as safer than being on the open lake—so much so that 1,000 ships passed each day, carrying people and commerce—the passageway nonetheless was treacherous.
Congress appropriated $5,000 for a South Manitou Island light in 1838. A report to the Secretary of the Treasury noted that the island offered shelter from storms and fuel for steamships. The report opined that it was the only all weather harbor admitting large vessels in the 300 miles (482.8 km) direct route from the Straits of Mackinac to Chicago. For those in storms, the sight of the beacon would have been a magnificent one, McKinney says. "Before the light went on, a man who had been in a boat on a storm-tossed lake in the area of South Manitou recounted the sense of terror he felt. It might have been different after the light’s construction, McKinney summed up: “All these people on the boat, scared and frightened, look up and see a 100-foot-tall whitewashed tower with that white light, shining on the lake. It would have looked just like an angel.”
The light has been the sight of a number of accidents and fatalities. Keeper Aaron Sheridan, his wife and their infant on March 15, 1878 died in a boating accident near the light. The Three Brothers shipwreck is within sight of the light.
The Manitou Island Memorial Society has been formed to preserve, protect, restore and "relight the light" on South Manitou Island and elsewhere. The dwelling's inside is closed and covered with graffiti. Fundraising efforts are on directed to removing the graffiti and repairing the lighthouse buildings. In the 1980s the towers foundation was reinforced to protect it from erosion at a time of high lake levels which threatened to topple the structure. Today, the tower is open and guides offer tours.
The Park Service restored the lantern room and the tower's spiral staircase in the summer of 2008, and a replica of the light’s original third-order Fresnel lens was installed in the lantern late that fall. The light was reactivated in May 2009 and is lit from May to November.
South Manitou Island
South Manitou Island is located in Lake Michigan, approximately west of Leland, Michigan. It is part of Leelanau County and the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The uninhabited island is in land area and can be accessed by a ferry service from Leland...
in 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...
, 16 miles (25.7 km) west of Leland, Michigan
Leland, Michigan
Leland is an unincorporated community in the U.S. state of Michigan. It was the county seat of Leelanau County from 1883 to 2008, when a new government center was completed in Suttons Bay Township, closer to the county's geographic center....
. It is in Leelanau County
Leelanau County, Michigan
-History:The county's name is said to be a Native American word meaning "delight of life", but it is a neologism made up by Indian agent and ethnographer Henry Schoolcraft, who sometimes gave the name "Leelinau" to Native American women in his tales. He created many faux Indian place names in...
in western Northern
Northern Michigan
Northern Michigan, also known as Northern Lower Michigan , is a region of the U.S. state of Michigan...
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"....
.
History
This is the third lighthouse built on the island. Construction of the first began in 1839 and the 1-1/2-story lighthouse with a lens in the cupola first went on in 1840, under the care of Lighthouse keeperLighthouse 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...
William N. Burton, who had a thriving lumbering business. It had a Lewis lamp
Lewis lamp
The Lewis lamp is a type of light fixture used in lighthouses. It was invented by Winslow Lewis who patented the design in 1810. The primary marketing point of the Lewis lamp was that it used less than half the oil of the prior oil lamps which they replaced...
, which was upgraded to a fourth 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...
. Deterioration of the building led to the lighthouse being completely rebuilt in 1858. Over time this light was found to be deficient, and the current lighthouse was built in 1872. With a third 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...
sitting 91 feet (27.7 m) above the foundation, this light boasted a focal plane of 104 feet. The site is currently under the control of the National Park Service, in conjunction with the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is a United States National Lakeshore located along the northwest coast of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan in Leelanau County and Benzie County....
. It is listed in the 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...
. The lighthouse was decommissioned in 1958, and is presently a museum. It is not operational.
“The lighthouse on South Manitou Island is, or was while it was still in operation, perhaps the most beautiful on the Great Lakes,”
Guide Emily McKinney stated: “You’re not only looking at Lake Michigan out there, you’re looking at the Manitou Passage,” she said. “It’s a big stretch of water between the Straits of Mackinac in Chicago, 300 miles (482.8 km). If you use you imagination, take yourselves back 150 years ago.” The passage was preferred as safer than being on the open lake—so much so that 1,000 ships passed each day, carrying people and commerce—the passageway nonetheless was treacherous.
Congress appropriated $5,000 for a South Manitou Island light in 1838. A report to the Secretary of the Treasury noted that the island offered shelter from storms and fuel for steamships. The report opined that it was the only all weather harbor admitting large vessels in the 300 miles (482.8 km) direct route from the Straits of Mackinac to Chicago. For those in storms, the sight of the beacon would have been a magnificent one, McKinney says. "Before the light went on, a man who had been in a boat on a storm-tossed lake in the area of South Manitou recounted the sense of terror he felt. It might have been different after the light’s construction, McKinney summed up: “All these people on the boat, scared and frightened, look up and see a 100-foot-tall whitewashed tower with that white light, shining on the lake. It would have looked just like an angel.”
The light has been the sight of a number of accidents and fatalities. Keeper Aaron Sheridan, his wife and their infant on March 15, 1878 died in a boating accident near the light. The Three Brothers shipwreck is within sight of the light.
The Manitou Island Memorial Society has been formed to preserve, protect, restore and "relight the light" on South Manitou Island and elsewhere. The dwelling's inside is closed and covered with graffiti. Fundraising efforts are on directed to removing the graffiti and repairing the lighthouse buildings. In the 1980s the towers foundation was reinforced to protect it from erosion at a time of high lake levels which threatened to topple the structure. Today, the tower is open and guides offer tours.
The Park Service restored the lantern room and the tower's spiral staircase in the summer of 2008, and a replica of the light’s original third-order Fresnel lens was installed in the lantern late that fall. The light was reactivated in May 2009 and is lit from May to November.
See also
- Lighthouses in the United StatesLighthouses in the United StatesThis is a list of lighthouses in the United States. The United States has had approximately a thousand lights as well as light towers, range lights, and pier head lights...
Specialized Further reading
Taylor, Paul (October 2009) Orlando M. Poe: Civil War General and Great Lakes Engineer (Kent State University Press) ISBN 1606350404; ISBN 978-1606350409.External links
- Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University, Bibliography for Leelanau County.
- Detroit News, Interactive map on Michigan lighthouses.
- 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 South Manitou Island Light, The Ultimate Guide to West Michigan Lighthouses by Jerry Roach (Publisher: Bugs Publishing LLC - 2005). ISBN 0-9747977-0-7.
- Map of Michigan Lighthouse in PDF Format.
- Merket, Jim, Lighthouse Towered Over Lake Michigan Refuge, Lighthouse Digest, November, 2002.
- Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy, South Manitou Island Light.
- Michigan lighthouse fund, South Manitou Island Light.
- National Park ServiceNational Park ServiceThe 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 lights, South Manitou. - South Manitou Island Lighthouse Society.
- Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light, South Manitou Island Light.
- Wobser, David, South Manitou Island Light, boatnerd.com.