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Marquette Harbor Light

Location	Marquette Harbor, Marquette, Michigan
Coordinates	46°32′48.08″N 87°22′33.76″W / 46.5466889°N 87.3760444°W / 46.5466889; -87.3760444
Tower
Constructed	1852
Foundation	Dressed stone/timber
Construction	Brick
Height	40 feet (12 m)
Shape	Square
Markings	Red with white lantern
Heritage	National Register of Historic Places listed place
Light
First lit	1853
Focal height	77 feet (23 m)
Lens	Fourth order Fresnel (original), Westinghouse DCB-36 Aerobeacon (current)
Intensity	703,000 candlepower
Range	10 nautical miles (19 km; 12 mi)
Characteristic	Fl W 10s
Marquette Harbor Light Station
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
USCG archive image of the Marquette Harbor Light
Area	P1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built	1866
MPS	U.S. Coast Guard Lighthouses and Light Stations on the Great Lakes TR
NRHP reference No.	84001803
Added to NRHP	July 19, 1984

The Marquette Harbor Light is located on Lake Superior in Marquette, Michigan, a part of the Upper Peninsula. It is an active aid to navigation.

History

To help navigation towards ore docks, Congress approved funds to build the Marquette Harbor Light in 1850. Construction took place in 1852, and first lit in June 1853. However, the initial structure deteriorated rapidly, and funds were approved in 1865 for a replacement tower.

In 1875, the Army Corps of Engineers built a 2,000-foot (610 m) breakwater to reduce the force of wind and waves in Marquette Harbor. A strong storm destroyed the original light in 1889. The new light sits on a concrete crib at the southernmost end of the breakwater wall.

The original lighthouse included seven 14-inch (360 mm) Lewis lamps, and a small detached 24-by-30-foot (7.3 by 9.1 m) dwelling constructed of similar materials to that of the tower. In 1853, the United States Lighthouse Board was created and a major system upgrade brought on an installation of a Sixth Order French Fresnel lens in 1856. The new lens was visible up to 10 nautical miles (19 km; 12 mi). Because of weather conditions, installation, maintenance and operation of a foghorn was integral to the operation.

In July 1899, the lighthouse was electrified under the direction of Thomas Miller.

The current lens is a DCB-36 Aerobeacon. Putting aside questions of nostalgia, aesthetics, or appreciation for the engineering of a bygone era (as exemplified by the Fresnel lens), this iteration of lighthouse illumination is itself incredibly effective, and an endangered remnant of another bygone era.

Construction of the current structure began in 1865. The 11⁄2-story dwelling shares its design with the lighthouses on Granite Island, Gull Rock and Huron Island. It includes a set of cast-iron spiral stairs winding from the first floor to the lantern centered on the square gallery atop the tower, a decagonal cast-iron lantern was installed, and a new fixed white Fourth Order Fresnel lens with a 190° arc of visibility was assembled atop its cast-iron pedestal. The focal plane is at 70 feet (21 m) above the lake, and was visible for a distance of 10 nautical miles in clear weather. Pictures before and after the dwelling modifications are available. A second story was added in 1910.

The tower is attached to a schoolhouse style lighthouse keeper's residence.

The area had three fog signals, the louder being in the fog signal building and one in each breakwater. Each had its own distinct tone.

The site was considered to be difficult and staffing was a problem. By 1882, after 29 years in operation, ten keepers had either been removed or resigned from service at Marquette.

In 1891, a station of the U.S. Life-Saving Service began operations on the lighthouse grounds, with the station located to the west of the lighthouse, which in 1915 became part of the U.S. Coast Guard. In 1939 the U.S. Lighthouse Service also merged under the control of the U.S. Coast Guard, placing all facilities on the grounds under the same government control. As part of the U.S. Coast Guard, the site became a training station during World War II with up to 300 recruits living in the various buildings on the facility grounds. The adjacent Coast Guard station is still active.

The original 4° Fresnel lens was transferred to Marquette Breakwater Outer Light in 1908 and is now also on display at the museum.

Current status

In April 1983, the Coast Guard demolished the fog signal building, leaving only the foundation.

This light was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. It was also included on the state inventory in 1969.

In 2002, a 30-year lease was signed by the Marquette Maritime Museum, which is responsible for maintenance and control of the facility. As part of their operations, they made the lighthouse available for scheduled tours. On the 150th anniversary of the lighthouse, in July 2016, the Coast Guard turned over the deed of ownership to the City of Marquette The lighthouse is open and tours are conducted through the Marquette Maritime Museum every day but Monday. Tours are at 11:30 am, 1:00 pm, and 2:30 pm from mid-May through mid-October.

See also

• Lighthouses in the United States

References

1. ^ Light List, Volume VII, Great Lakes (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard.
2. ^ National Park Service Inventory of Historic Light Stations: Michigan Lighthouses, Maritime Heritage Program.
3. Pepper, Terry. "Database of Tower Heights". Seeing the Light. terrypepper.com. Archived from the original on 2000-09-18.
4. Pepper, Terry. "Database of Focal Heights". Seeing the Light. terrypepper.com. Archived from the original on 2008-08-30.
5. ^ "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Michigan". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.
6. Pepper, Terry. "Database of Original Lenses". Seeing the Light. terrypepper.com. Archived from the original on 2000-09-18.
7. ^ David Wobser. "Marquette Harbor Light". Boatnerd. Archived from the original on 2008-07-25. Retrieved 2008-05-18.
8. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
9. "Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society, Marquette Harbor (Lake Superior) Light, ARLHS USA-477".
10. "Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society, World List of Lights (WLOL)".
11. ^ Interactive map on Michigan lighthouses, Detroit News.
12. Roach, Jerry, Lighthouse Central, Marquette Harbor light The Ultimate Guide to Upper Michigan Lighthouses (Publisher: Bugs Publishing LLC - 2007). ISBN 978-0-9747977-2-4.
13. ^ Pepper, Terry. "Seeing the Light: Lighthouses on the western Great Lakes".
14. ^ "Harbour lights on Marquette Harbor Light".
15. "Trapani, Bob,DCB-36 Beacon... Fading Away and All but Forgotten by History, Stormheroes.com". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2008-05-20.
16. ^ Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
17. Lighthouse Memories: Marquette Harbor Light (December, 1999) Archived 2011-06-14 at the Wayback Machine Lighthouse Digest.
18. ^ "Marquette Maritime Museum". Archived from the original on 2008-05-14.
19. "Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy, Marquette Harbor Lighthouse".

Further reading

• D'Entremont, Jeremy, Students Pitch in to Restore Newly Leased Lighthouse (July, 2002) Archived 2011-06-14 at the Wayback Machine Lighthouse Digest.
• Lighthouse Memories: Marquette Harbor Light (December, 1999) Archived 2011-06-14 at the Wayback Machine Lighthouse Digest.
• Stonehouse, Frederick. (1974) Marquette Shipwrecks. Marquette, MI: Harboridge Press.

External links

• Marquette Maritime Museum - operates tours of the Marquette Harbor Light
• Aerial photos, Marquette Harbor Light, marinas.com.
• Marquette country on Marquette Harbor light.
• Photo of 4th Order Fresnel lens (Marquette Harbor) at Pepper, Terry, Seeing the Light.
• Photos of Marquette Harbor Light.
• Satellite view at Google Maps.
• U.S. Coast Guard Search & Rescue Index

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 1852
• Lighthouses completed in 1865
• Houses completed in 1865
• Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan
• Museums in Marquette County, Michigan
• Lighthouse museums in Michigan
• Buildings and structures in Marquette, Michigan
• 1852 establishments in Michigan
• National Register of Historic Places in Marquette County, Michigan