Middle Island Light

Middle Island Light
Location	Alpena, Michigan
Coordinates	45°11′35″N 83°19′16″W / 45.19306°N 83.32111°W
Tower
Constructed	1905
Foundation	dressed stone
Construction	brick
Automated	1961
Height	71 feet (22 m)
Shape	conical tower
Markings	white with horizontal red band
Heritage	National Register of Historic Places listed place
Light
First lit	1905
Focal height	78 feet (24 m)
Lens	red Fourth Order Fresnel lens
Intensity	9.000 candlepower
Range	14 miles (23 km)
Characteristic	alternating 5-second periods of light and dark
	Middle Island Light
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Nearest city	Alpena, Michigan
Area	2.8 acres (1.1 ha)
Architect	US Lighthouse Board
MPS	Light Stations of the United States MPS
NRHP reference No.	06000133
Added to NRHP	March 15, 2006

The Middle Island Light is a lighthouse located on Middle Island in Lake Huron, about 10 miles (16 km) north of Alpena, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.^[2]

History

Middle Island historically marked an important location for mariners on Lake Huron, being midway on a journey between the north point of Thunder Bay and Presque Isle.^[1] The lee side of the island also offered a safe harbor during storms, but the access to the harbor was guarded by shoals. Recognizing the danger of the area, the United States Life-Saving Service constructed a station on the island in 1881. By the 1890s, the need for a lighthouse on the island was apparent, and in 1896, the United States Lighthouse Board requested appropriations to construct one. The request was not acted on until 1902, when Congress appropriated $25,000 for the construction of a light and fog signal on Middle Island, one of the last lights in a string along the Michigan shore of Lake Huron.

Preparations for construction of the light began in 1903, and a contract for construction was awarded in 1904.^[1] Construction began in June 1904, and continued through the end of the shipping season. Work resumed at the beginning of the 1905 season, and the completed light was first lit on June 1, 1905. The lighting system used an oil burning lamp and a red fourth-order Fresnel lens. An oil storage shed was constructed the next year.

In 1928, the oil light was changed to a green electrical third-order Fresnel lens; the fog signal was also upgraded.^[1] In 1939, the tower was painted white with a horizontal black band, which was changed to red at a later date. The light was automated in 1961;^[4] with no staff on site, it was extensively vandalized in the 1960s. In the 1980s, a local group began some restoration, but made little headway.

In 1989, Marvin Theut purchased the keeper's house and fog signal building from the government.^[4] In 1992, he formed the Middle Island Lighthouse Keepers Association to restore the property, and in 2001 the group opened the fog signal building as a bed and breakfast. In 2010, the lighthouse itself was declared surplus, and in 2012 it was transferred to the Middle Island Lighthouse Keepers Association.^[5] Later that year, members of the Middle Island Lighthouse Keepers Association formed Middle Island Lighthouse Preservation Society, to preserve and restore the lighthouse.

Description

The Middle Island Light consists of three structures: a double keeper's house, a fog signal building, and the light itself.^[1] All structures are constructed of brick on a stone foundation. The tower is built 375 feet (114 m) away from the keeper's house, with the fog signal 265 feet (81 m) on the other side of the house.^[4] Cement walkways link the three buildings.

The tower stands 70 feet (21 m) to the center of the lantern, and 80 feet (24 m) to its top. It is conical in shape, tapering from 18 feet (5.5 m) diameter at the base to 12 feet 8 inches (3.86 m) diameter at the top.^[4]

The keeper's house is a two-story red brick double house, with six rooms in each of its apartments. The fog signal building is a red brick structure with a hip roof.^[4] It originally measured 40 feet (12 m) by 23 feet 6 inches (7.16 m); a later addition measuring 6 by 9 feet (1.8 by 2.7 m) was constructed to house a hoisting engine.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Terry Pepper. "Middle Island Light". Seeing the Light. Retrieved January 14, 2014.
^ ^a ^b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
^ "Middle Island (Lake Huron) Light". Amateur Radio Lighhouse Society. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Middle Island Lighthouse". Lighthouse Friends. Retrieved January 14, 2014.
^ "A brief history of MILPS". Middle Island Lighthouse Preservation Society. Retrieved January 14, 2014.

External links

[pepper-1] Terry Pepper. "Middle Island Light". Seeing the Light. Retrieved January 14, 2014.

[nris-2] "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.

[arlhs-3] "Middle Island (Lake Huron) Light". Amateur Radio Lighhouse Society. Retrieved January 13, 2014.

[friends-4] "Middle Island Lighthouse". Lighthouse Friends. Retrieved January 14, 2014.

[hist-5] "A brief history of MILPS". Middle Island Lighthouse Preservation Society. Retrieved January 14, 2014.

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Historical (lost) lights	Au Sable North Pierhead Belle Isle Clinton River Ecorse Ecorse Range Rear Gibraltar Grassy Island Grassy Island North Channel Range Lights Grassy Island South Channel Range Lights Grosse Ile North Channel Range Lights Grosse Ile South Channel Range Lights Harwood Point East Range Front Kalamazoo River Mama Juda Mama Juda Range Front Manistee Main Middle Lake George Monroe Pier New Buffalo North Manitou Island Saginaw Bay Sand Beach North Entrance East Squaw Point St. Mary's River Lower Range Front Vidal Shoals Channel Range Front and Rear Lights Windmill Point Range Front and Rear Lights
Related	Lightship Huron List of lifesaving stations in Michigan Wixom Lake, Musselman Island lighthouse

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