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Manistique East Breakwater Light

Manistique East Breakwater Lighthouse
Location	Manistique, Michigan
Coordinates	45°56′41.2296″N 86°14′51.5544″W / 45.944786000°N 86.247654000°W / 45.944786000; -86.247654000
Tower
Constructed	1916
Foundation	Concrete pier
Construction	Steel
Automated	1969
Height	11 m (36 ft)
Shape	Square pyramidal
Markings	Red with black lantern
Heritage	National Register of Historic Places listed place
Light
First lit	1916
Focal height	15 m (49 ft)
Lens	Fourth-order Fresnel (original)
Range	10 mn
Characteristic	Iso R 6s
Manistique East Breakwater Light
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Area	less than one acre
Architect	U.S. Lighthouse Service
MPS	Light Stations of the United States MPS
NRHP reference No.	05000980
Added to NRHP	September 6, 2005

The Manistique East Breakwater Light is a lighthouse is located in the harbor of Manistique, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

History

At the beginning of the 20th century, Manistique was a boom town, with timber and pig iron shipping from the harbor daily. However, the harbor itself was protected only by timber crib piers originally constructed in the 1870s. However, by 1910, leaders in Manistique managed to convince the Federal government of the financial importance of the harbor, and an Army Corps of Engineers harbor expert was sent to Manistique to draw up plans for a concrete breakwater structure. The contract to construct the breakwaters was awarded to the Greiling Brothers Company, and construction was started in 1910.

At the same time, George Putnam, the newly appointed Commissioner of lighthouses, recommended the erection of lights on the breakwater. In 1912, the Lighthouse Service erected temporary range lights on one of the piers. Funding for permanent lights was approved in 1913, and by 1914 permanent lights on the west breakwater were complete. The east breakwater itself was not completed until 1915, at which time work began on the east breakwater light and a station keeper's house at the foot of the breakwater. Construction was completed in August, and the new light was lit on August 17, 1916.

As the century progressed, Manistique's importance as a port waned. The light was automated in 1969, and the original Fourth Order Fresnel lens was replaced with a 12-inch (300 mm) Tidelands Signal acrylic optic. In 2000, the Corps of Engineers replaced the concrete breakwater with rip rap.

In 2012, efforts were made under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000 to convey the lighthouse to an eligible entity at no cost. When no such entity assumed stewardship of the lighthouse, it was made available for sale via GSA Auctions. The auction closed July 15, 2013, and the lighthouse was bought by a private individual.

Description

The Manistique East Breakwater Light is a square-plan tower approximately 38 feet tall on a cast concrete foundation. The tower is made of prefabricated steel plates bolted together and lagged to the foundation. It is surmounted by a square gallery with a decagonal cast iron lantern which contains an electrically powered fixed red Fourth Order Fresnel lens.

Notes

1. ^ "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Michigan". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.
2. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
3. ^ Terry Pepper (2004-06-20). "Manistique East Breakwater Light". Seeing the Light. Retrieved November 19, 2011.
4. "Manistique East Breakwater, MI". LighthouseFriends.com. Retrieved May 29, 2015.

References

• Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

External links

• Lighthouse Central, Manistique East Breakwater light The Ultimate Guide to Upper Michigan Lighthouses by Jerry Roach. (Publisher: Bugs Publishing LLC - 2007). ISBN 978-0-9747977-2-4.

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

• Lighthouses completed in 1916
• Buildings and structures in Schoolcraft County, Michigan
• Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan
• National Register of Historic Places in Schoolcraft County, Michigan