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Au Sable Light

Au Sable Light complex in June 2021
Location	Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore on Lake Superior
Coordinates	46°40′23″N 86°08′21.6″W / 46.67306°N 86.139333°W / 46.67306; -86.139333
Tower
Constructed	1874
Foundation	Wood pilings
Construction	Brick, Italianate bracketing
Automated	1958
Height	87 feet (27 m)
Shape	Frustum of a cone
Markings	White with black lantern
Heritage	National Register of Historic Places listed place, Michigan state historic site
Light
First lit	1874
Focal height	107 feet (33 m)
Lens	Third-order Fresnel lens (original), 12-inch (300 mm) acrylic (current)
Range	11 nautical miles (20 km; 13 mi)
Characteristic	Flashing white every 6 s
Au Sable Light Station
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Michigan State Historic Site
Nearest city	Grand Marais, Michigan
Area	5 acres (2.0 ha)
Architect	Col. Orlando M. Poe
Architectural style	Italianate bracketing
NRHP reference No.	78000374
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	May 23, 1978
Designated MSHS	September 21, 1976

Au Sable Light is an active lighthouse in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore west of Grand Marais, Michigan off H-58. Until 1910, this aid to navigation was called "Big Sable Light" (not to be confused with Big Sable Point Light near Ludington, Michigan on Lake Michigan or Little Sable Point Light south of Pentwater, Michigan).

History

The Au Sable Light Station was built in 1874 on Au Sable Point, a well known hazard on Lake Superior's "shipwreck coast". The Au Sable Point reef is a shallow ridge of sandstone that in places is only 6 feet (1.8 m) below the surface and extends nearly 1 mile (1.6 km) into Lake Superior. The Au Sable Point reef was one of the greatest dangers facing ships coasting along the south shore of Lake Superior during the early shipping days when keeping land in sight was the main navigational method. The Au Sable Point reef was known as a "ship trap" that ensnared many ships, including the passenger ship Lady Elgin which was stranded there in 1859.

The shoreline in this area is considered one of North America's most beautiful, "but in the 1800s it was considered one of the most deadly because of unpredictable features below the surface and violent storms and blinding fogs above." The reef extends nearly a mile out as a ridge of sandstone a few feet below the surface. The shallow water caught many a vessel following the shore. Turbulence was common when the lake was "pushed in by violent storms out of the north and northwest." Thick fogs resulted form the mix of frigid lake air and warmth from the sand dunes. "As early as 1622, French explorers called the region 'most dangerous when there is any storms'."

Additionally, the location was chosen to eliminate a "dark spot" in the 80 miles (130 km) stretch between Granite Island Light and Whitefish Point Light.

The lighthouse tower and attached keepers' quarters were designed by Colonel Orlando Metcalfe Poe. In this capacity he designed eight "Poe style lighthouses" and oversaw construction of several. Poe was named District Engineer for the Eleventh Lighthouse District, Those lights are New Presque Isle Light (1870) on Lake Huron, Lake Michigan's South Manitou Island Light (1872), Grosse Point Light (1873) in Evanston, Illinois, Lake Superior's Au Sable Light (1874), Racine, Wisconsin's Wind Point Light (1880); Outer Island Light (1874) in the Apostle Islands, Little Sable Point Light (1874) on Lake Michigan, Manistique, Michigan's Seul Choix Light (1895) and Spectacle Reef Light.

The tower is a white brick conical tower with a black lantern. A red brick lightkeeper's house stands next to the lighthouse. It originally had a third-order Fresnel lens, which is now on display at the light station. The lighthouse was automated in 1958 and is currently equipped with a 12-inch (300 mm) solar-powered light.

A wooden boathouse was added in 1875; the fog signal building was added in 1897; the keepers' quarters were converted to a duplex in 1909; and the steel oil house was raised in 1915. There is also a second brick Keepers house (1909), a kerosene storage shed (1895), two brick outhouses (1874/1909), a wooden woodshed and boathouse (1875), a brick cistern, and a two vehicle wood frame garage (1954). Most of these buildings are still extant; only one outhouse remains standing.

The keeper's house was renovated. A visitor center is on the lower floor and an apartment for volunteer caretakers on the upper floor.

In 1996, the original Third Order Fresnel lens was returned to the tower after 39 years on display at the Pictured Rocks Nautical and Maritime Museum, also known as the Grand Marais Maritime Museum in Grand Marais. However, it is an external 300 mm lens that is operative.

The steam whistle and airhorn have been removed. Nevertheless, the "boarded lantern area is an impressive sight."

The lighthouse tower is open to the public in summer. The complex was maintained by the National Park Service, and the automated light continues to be operated by the United States Coast Guard. The National Park Service's stated goal is to continue to maintain the lighthouse complex to its 1909–10 appearance, during its first year of operation as a two-person Lighthouse keeper station.

The Light Station is part of the National Park Service's Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. The Au Sable Light Station is on the National Register of Historic Places, #78000374.

To visit this light, take H-58 from the Hurricane River Campground, which is 12 miles (19 km) west of Grand Marais, Michigan. From the Campground the lighthouse is a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) walk on a sand trail.

See also

• Lighthouses in the United States

References

1. Michigan lighthouse fund, Au Sable Light Archived January 6, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. Michiganlighthouse.org.
2. Pepper, Terry. "Database of Tower Heights". Seeing the Light. terrypepper.com. Archived from the original on September 18, 2000.
3. Pepper, Terry. "Database of Focal Heights". Seeing the Light. terrypepper.com. Archived from the original on August 30, 2008.
4. ^ Light List, Volume VII, Great Lakes (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard. 2007. p. 143.
5. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
6. State of Michigan (2009). "Big Sable Light Station". Archived from the original on May 11, 2012. Retrieved June 26, 2010.
7. ^ National Park Service Maritime History Project, Inventory of Historic Light Stations, Au Sable Light.
8. National Park Service, Historic Structure Report, 1978. Archived January 10, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
9. Interactive map on Michigan lighthouses. Detroit News.
10. ^ Wobser, David, "Au Sable Point Light" Boatnerd.com. Archived July 25, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
11. Lighthouse Central, Au Sable Point Lighthouse, The Ultimate Guide to Upper Michigan Lighthouses by Jerry Roach (Publisher: Bugs Publishing LLC – 2007). ISBN 978-0-9747977-2-4.
12. Wobser, David, Boatnerd.com, Orlando Poe Archived May 17, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. Lighthouse.boatnerd.com.
13. ^ Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
14. Torres, Louis, Historic Structure Report, Pictured Rocks Au Sable Light Station (November, 1978). Archived January 10, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
15. Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy, Au Sable Light. Michiganlights.com.
16. Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light, Grand Marais Light at terrypepper.com
17. Grand Marais Maritime Museum.
18. ^ "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Michigan". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on May 1, 2017.
19. Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light, Au Sable Point Light Archived July 4, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. Terrypepper.com.
20. Anderson, Kraig, Lighthouse Friends, Au Sable Lighthouse Archived August 6, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. Lighthousefriends.com.

Further reading

• Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light, Au Sable Point Light at terrypepper.com.
• Taylor, Paul (October 2009) Orlando M. Poe: Civil War General and Great Lakes Engineer (Kent State University Press) ISBN 1-60635-040-4; ISBN 978-1-60635-040-9.
• Torres, Louis, Historic Structure Report, Pictured Rocks Au Sable Light Station (November, 1978).
• Noble, Dennis L.; O'Brien, T. Michael (1979). Sentinels of the rocks: from "Graveyard coast" to National Lakeshore (1st ed.). Marquette: Northern Michigan University Press. ISBN 978-0-918616-03-6.

External links

• Media related to Au Sable Light Station at Wikimedia Commons
• Au Sable Light on the World List of Lights
• Aerial photos, Au Sable Light, marinas.com.
• Exploring the North, Au Sable Point Light.
• Interactive map of lighthouses in eastern Lake Superior, powered by Google.
• National Park Service Au Sable Point Light Station web page.
• Photograph of the Au Sable Point Lighthouse and Lifesaving Station (ca. 1920), Michigan History, Arts and Libraries archive. Archived January 20, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
• Satellite view, Au Sable Point Light by Google Maps.
• Au Sable Light Station - United States Lighthouses

v t e Lighthouses in Michigan
Main: List of lighthouses in the United States
Northern Upper Peninsula	Au Sable Big Bay Point Copper Harbor Copper Harbor Front Range Crisp Point Eagle Harbor Eagle Harbor Range Lights Eagle River Fourteen Mile Point Grand Island East Channel Grand Island Harbor Rear Range Grand Island North Grand Marais Range Lights Granite Island Gull Rock Huron Island Isle Royale Manitou Island Marquette Breakwater Outer Marquette Harbor Mendota (Bete Grise) Munising Front Range Munising Rear Range Ontonagon Ontonagon Harbor West Breakwater Portage River (Jacobsville) Passage Island Presque Isle Harbor Breakwater Light Rock Harbor Rock of Ages Sand Hills Sand Point Light (Baraga) St. Martin Island Stannard Rock Thunder Bay Island Whitefish Point
Southern Upper Peninsula	DeTour Reef Lansing Shoals Manistique East Breakwater Martin Reef Menominee Pier Minneapolis Shoal Naubinway Island Peninsula Point Poverty Island Sand Point Seul Choix Squaw Island St. Martin Island
St. Mary's River	Frying Pan Island Pipe Island Point Iroquois Round Island Light (St. Mary's River) Six Mile Point Range Rear Winter Point Range Front
Portage River/Ship Canal	Keweenaw Waterway Lower Entrance Keweenaw Waterway Upper Entrance Portage Lake Rouleau Point Range Front and Rear Lights
Straits of Mackinac	Bois Blanc McGulpin Point Old Mackinac Point Round Island Round Island Passage St. Helena Island Wawatam
Western Lower Peninsula	Beaver Island Harbor Beaver Island Head Big Sable Point Cedar River Charlevoix Charlevoix South Pier Frankfort Frankfort South Range Grand Haven North Pierhead Grand Haven South Pierhead Entrance Grand Haven South Pierhead Inner Grand Traverse Grays Reef Holland Harbor Ile Aux Galets Little Sable Point Little Traverse Ludington Manistee Pierhead Manning Memorial Mission Point Mission Point (1933) Muskegon Breakwater Muskegon Pier North Manitou Shoal Pentwater North Pierhead Pentwater South Pierhead Point Betsie Portage Lake South Fox Island South Haven South Manitou Island St. Joseph North Pier Inner St. Joseph North Pier Outer Waugoshance White River White Shoal
Eastern Lower Peninsula	Alpena Caseville Harbor Charity Island Cheboygan Crib Cheboygan River Front Range Detroit River Fort Gratiot Forty Mile Point Fourteen Foot Shoal Gibraltar Gravelly Shoal Harbor Beach Lake St. Clair Mariners Memorial Middle Island Miller Memorial New Presque Isle Old Presque Isle Peche Island Rear Range Poe Reef Pointe aux Barques Port Austin Port Sanilac Saginaw Bay Saginaw River Rear Range Spectacle Reef St. Clair Flats Front and Rear Range Light Sturgeon Point Tawas Point Thunder Bay Island Tri-Centennial Light of Detroit William Livingstone Memorial Windmill Point
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

v t e National Register of Historic Places in Michigan
Lists by county	Alcona Alger Allegan Alpena Antrim Arenac Baraga Barry Bay Benzie Berrien Branch Calhoun Cass Charlevoix Cheboygan Chippewa Clare Clinton Crawford Delta Dickinson Eaton Emmet Genesee Gladwin Gogebic Grand Traverse Gratiot Hillsdale Houghton Huron Ingham Ionia Iosco Iron Isabella Jackson Kalamazoo Kalkaska Kent Keweenaw Lake Lapeer Leelanau Lenawee Livingston Luce Mackinac Macomb Manistee Marquette Mason Mecosta Menominee Midland Missaukee Monroe Montcalm Montmorency Muskegon Newaygo Oakland Oceana Ogemaw Ontonagon Osceola Oscoda Otsego Ottawa Presque Isle Roscommon Saginaw Sanilac Schoolcraft Shiawassee St. Clair St. Joseph Tuscola Van Buren Washtenaw Wayne Detroit Wexford
Other lists	Bridges Historic districts Houses Michigan State Historic Sites (listings) National Historic Landmarks Properties of religious function Railway stations

• Lighthouses completed in 1874
• Houses completed in 1874
• Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan
• National Register of Historic Places in Alger County, Michigan
• Museums in Alger County, Michigan
• Lighthouse museums in Michigan
• Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
• Michigan State Historic Sites
• 1874 establishments in Michigan