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Keweenaw Waterway Lower Entrance Light

Near the start of the breakwater
Location	S. end of breakwater at mouth of Portage R., Torch Lake Township
Coordinates	46°58′8″N 88°25′52″W / 46.96889°N 88.43111°W / 46.96889; -88.43111
Tower
Constructed	1919
Construction	steel tower
Automated	1973
Height	Tower - 62 feet (19 m)
Shape	octagonal
Markings	white w/ black lantern and red roof
Heritage	National Register of Historic Places listed place
Light
First lit	1920
Focal height	68 feet (21 m)
Lens	Fourth order Fresnel lens (original), SABIK LED-350 two-tier lantern optic (current)
Range	9 nautical miles (17 km; 10 mi)
Characteristic	Fl White, 6 sec
Keweenaw Waterway Lower Entrance Light
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Built	1919
NRHP reference No.	14000426
Added to NRHP	July 18, 2014

The Keweenaw Waterway Lower Entrance Light, also known as the Portage Entry Light, is a lighthouse located at the south end of breakwater at mouth of the Portage River in Torch Lake Township. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.

History

The Portage River was first dredged in 1860, and the need for a light to mark the mouth of the waterway was quickly obvious. In 1866, Congress appropriated $7500 to construct range lights at this location, which were constructed in 1868. The Federal government purchased the Keweenaw Waterway in 1891, after which the United States Army Corps of Engineers began a program to improve navigation in the waterway. By 1898, a breakwater and a western pier extending offshore was erected here.

In 1902 a wooden frame tower erected at the end of the pier to house a light. This proved inadequate, and it was replaced with an iron tower in 1911. In 1913, work began on a new harbor inside the waterway, and in 1917 Congress appropriated $100,000 for a suite of new navigational aids, including this lighthouse to mark the outer end of the entrance way. Work on the structures began in 1919, and was completed in 1920. The fourth order Fresnel lens was transferred from the previous pierhead light to this one, and previous lights marking the mouth of the waterway were removed.

The lighthouse was automated in 1973. In 2010, the original Fresnel lens was replaced with a SABIK LED-350 two-tier lantern optic. In 2014, THE Keweenaw Waterway Lower Entrance Lighthouse was deemed excess by the United States Coast Guard, and in 2016 the Keweenaw Waterway Lighthouse Conservancy was granted ownership.

Description

The Keweenaw Waterway Lower Entrance Light is located at the offshore end of a breakwater extending southward from shore at the mouth of the Portage River. The structure consists of a timber crib foundation and concrete pier, on top of which is a single story concrete machine room, topped with a three-story octagonal steel tower with a circular lantern. It is a well-preserved example of the typical architecture and engineering methods used to construct lighthouses in the Great Lakes in the time period in which it was built.

The foundation is a rectangular timber crib measuring approximately 32 feet by 50 feet, and 16 feet tall. The crib is constructed of heavy timbers and supported by piles. The crib supports an eight-foot thick concrete platform measuring approximately 32 feet by 50 feet. In the center of the platform is an unpainted single-story rectangular reinforced concrete pier measuring approximately 32 feet by 35 feet; open deck space is to either side. A steel doorway facing the breakwater provides access into the structure. Inside is a rectangular room measuring approximately 19.5 feet by 25 feet. A ladder provides access to the superstructure.

A 16 feet high machine room measuring approximately 25 feet by 25 feet sits atop the pier. This room formerly held the machinery used to operate the lighthouse. The exterior of the machine room has molded concrete, classical revival wrap-around pilasters at each corner and A projecting classical revival molded concrete cornice across the top with a parapet above. A rectangular double doorway facing the concrete pier's rooftop deck is in one side of the room. The other three sides each have two rectangular windows, approximately five feet tall by three feet wide. The interior of the machine room measures approximately 22 feet by 22 feet, and a ladder in the center provides access to the tower above.

The light tower on top of the machine room is a white-painted octagonal steel structure approximately 30 feet tall. The lower level of the tower is approximately 16 feet in diameter, and is slightly wider than the upper level. Eight 12-inch wide stylized Tuscan order pilasters are located at the corners of the octagon, and an architrave, frieze, and cornice encircle the edge of the lip above. Another doorway is at the base of the tower. There are two levels above the case, each octagonal and 14 feet in diameter with four windows.

The lantern room at the top is approximately seven feet in diameter and is surrounded by a parapet wall. The original brass pedestal in the center of the lantern room floor supports a modern automated SABIK LED-350 two-tier lantern optic. A door provides access to the lantern galley.

See also

• Engineering
• Michigan
• National Register of Historic Places

References

1. ^ "Keweenaw Waterway Lighthouse". Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy.
2. Light List, Volume VII, Great Lakes (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard. 2012. p. 144.
3. "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Michigan". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on May 1, 2017.
4. ^ "National Register of Historic Places Program: Keweenaw Waterway Lower Entrance Light".
5. Rowlett, Russ (April 23, 2013). "Lighthouses of the United States: Michigan's Western Lower Peninsula". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
6. ^ "Keweenaw Waterway Lower Entrance, MI". Lighthouse Friends.
7. ^ Daniel Koski-Karell (January 23, 2014), National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Keweenaw Waterway Lower Entrance Light (PDF)

External links

• Keweenaw Waterway Lighthouse Conservancy Archived February 11, 2017, at the Wayback Machine
• Keweenaw Waterway Lower Entry Light by Dave Wobser Archived August 17, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
• Keweenaw Waterway Light at Seeing The Light by Terry Pepper

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 Houghton County, Michigan
Historic districts	Big Traverse Bay Historic District Calumet and Hecla Industrial District Calumet Downtown Historic District East Hancock Neighborhood Historic District Lake Linden Historic District Laurium Historic District Painesdale Historic District Quincy Mining Company Stamp Mills Historic District Quincy Street Historic District Shelden Avenue Historic District
Historic properties	Calumet Fire Station Chassell School Complex College Club House and Gymnasium County Road C117–Pike River Bridge Douglass House First Congregational Church Hancock Town Hall and Fire Hall Houghton County Courthouse J. Vivian Jr. and Company Building Jacobsville Finnish Lutheran Church Kaleva Temple Keweenaw Waterway Lower Entrance Light Keweenaw Waterway Upper Entrance Light Keweenaw National Historical Park Lake Linden Village Hall and Fire Station Lieblein House John J. Michels House Joseph Bosch Building Old Hancock Central High School Old Main, Suomi College Quincy Mine No. 2 Shaft Hoist House Ransom B. Shelden House Redridge Steel Dam Saint Henry's Evangelical Lutheran Church and Cemetery Saint Ignatius Loyola Church Shelden-Dee Block Smith–Dengler House South Range Community Building The Calumet Theatre Thomas H. Hoatson House
National Historic Landmarks	Calumet Historic District Quincy Mining Company Historic District
Former listings	Italian Hall
See also: National Register of Historic Places listings in Houghton County, Michigan and List of National Historic Landmarks in Michigan

• Lighthouses completed in 1920
• Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan
• National Register of Historic Places in Houghton County, Michigan
• 1920 establishments in Michigan