About this property
The Sturgeon Point Light Station is a lighthouse on Lake Huron in Haynes Township, Alcona County, in the northeastern part of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Established to ward mariners off a reef that extends 1.5 miles (2.4 km) lakeward from Sturgeon Point, it is today regarded as a historic example of a Cape Cod style Great Lakes lighthouse. The light station was built in 1869 by the United States Lighthouse Board. The Board was in the midst of a lighthouse building boom on the Great Lakes due to increased maritime traffic, and in response to a large number of lost ships and men: Congress approved 70 lights on the western Great Lakes in thirty years: 28 in the 1850s, and 21 in each of the following decades. The location is roughly halfway between Alpena's Thunder Bay Island and the northern entry to Saginaw Bay. Importantly, this point sits atop a formidable reef that is an imminent hazard to navigation. Moreover, the area north of Sturgeon Point and south of Alcona, Michigan is a bay that can provide shelter from northerly and southerly winds and waves. Historically, this area is locally known as "Sanctuary Bay," which is in distinct contrast to "Misery Bay", the area to the north, between Alpena and Thunder Bay Island. The Lighthouse Board further recognized that being able to navigate close to (but not over) the reef and the point would aid transport into and out of Saginaw Bay. It is made of brick masonry on an ashlar limestone foundation. The tower stands 70 feet 9 inches (21.56 m) in height, with a diameter of 16 feet (4.9 m) at the base. The focal plane is listed by the Coast Guard at 69 feet (21 m), which would be the height from the "mean high water mark," That figure is important, in that it could be used by mariners to chart their location, using a method of triangulation to give them the distance to the light. The adjoining, two-story Lighthouse keeper’s quarters was designed in the Cape Cod style and built of the same materials. At the time, the Board was often using this architectural motif. In fact, Poverty Island Light, built in 1874, is considered to be a "sibling" as it is a direct copy of Sturgeon Point. The light was set to begin its service with a sixth-order Fresnel lens which was upgraded to a 3½-order lens (that was originally installed at Oswego, New York). It was one of only a dozen used around the country, most of which were on the Great Lakes. The other Great Lakes 3½-order lenses were at (in alphabetical order): DeTour Reef (two 3½-order lenses, after the bivalve lens broke), Eagle Bluff, Grays Reef, Huron Island, Michigan Island, St. Helena Island, and Toledo Harbor.
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Everything a full report reveals about Sturgeon Point Light Station
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Questions about this property
When was Sturgeon Point Light Station listed on the National Register?
Sturgeon Point Light Station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 18, 1984.
What type of historic resource is Sturgeon Point Light Station?
Sturgeon Point Light Station is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Sturgeon Point Light Station?
The period of significance for Sturgeon Point Light Station is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near Sturgeon Point Light Station?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Sturgeon Point Light Station will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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