Waugoshance Light Station

About this property

The ruined lighthouse at Waugoshance protects boats from a shoal area at the northern end of Lake Michigan. The lighthouse is located in Emmet County, Michigan, United States, and in U.S. Coast Guard District No. 9. It is approximately 15 miles (24 km) west of Mackinaw City. Due to erosion and deterioration, the lighthouse is deteriorating and critically endangered, and likely to fall into the lake in the near future. Boats from Chicago heading North (and ultimately) East need to navigate the narrow tip of northern Lake Michigan, and there are many dangers. The area around Waugoshance Point is not only shallow, it is a large (in area) projection from the bottom of the lake. Boats large enough to safely travel in times of storm cannot approach the light closer than a few hundred yards. Adding to the complication of navigation in this area is the White Shoal, located just north of Waugoshance. This area is currently protected by White Shoal Light—built in 1910, nearby, powerful and larger—and Grays Reef Light which rendered this lighthouse obsolete. During the last half of the nineteenth century, this light marked the turning point for ships traveling through the Straits of Mackinac and along Lake Michigan's eastern shore between the mainland and the Beavers. With a depth of less than 12 feet (3.7 m) deep, it was one of the most dangerous parts of the Straits. Thereafter, a "Gray's Reef passage" became more typical because modern freighters require considerably more depth, so Waugoshance is bypassed about 2 miles (3.2 km) to the west. In 1832 the first lightvessel on the Great Lakes was placed here. That wooden lightship was the Lois McLain. In 1851 she was replaced by the Waugoshance Light, which stands in the area of the Wilderness State Park, and which remains one of the most hazardous areas near the Straits of Mackinac, Michigan. The last light vessel on the Great Lakes was the Lightship Huron. The lighthouse at Waugoshance was arguably the first light built in the Great Lakes that was totally surrounded by water. Both its construction and its continued maintenance were rendered extremely hazardous by the severe weather conditions of the area. Waugoshance is at the northern end of the long fetch of "south-wester" waves on Lake Michigan; the wave action is amplified as they build upon the shoal. The imposing crib structure was a first on the Great Lakes. The pier was reconstructed in 1870—a massive undertaking that was hampered by the ironic fact that the viable 'building season' is far shorter than even the normal operating season for the light—and used a "bird cage" lantern, which makes it one of only three built on the Great Lakes. The lantern originally held the first fourth order Fresnel lens on the Great Lakes.

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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.

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