The Grand Island Harbor Rear Range Light is a lighthouse located off M-28 in Munising Township, Michigan. It is also known as the Bay Furnace Rear Range Light, Christmas Rear Range Light,[7] or End of the Road Light.[8] The corresponding front range light was replaced in 1968; the rear range light was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.[6] It is no longer an active aid to navigation.
 Rear Range Light | |
 | |
| Location | Munising Township, Michigan |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 46°26′12″N 86°41′28″W / 46.43667°N 86.69111°W |
| Tower | |
| Constructed | 1868  |
| Foundation | Concrete pier |
| Construction | Steel |
| Automated | 1914[2] |
| Height | 64 feet (20 m)[3] |
| Shape | Frustum of a cone |
| Markings | Black and white Daymark tower/black lantern |
| Heritage | National Register of Historic Places listed place |
| Light | |
| First lit | 1914[1] |
| Deactivated | 1969 |
| Focal height | 70 feet (21 m)[4] |
| Lens | Sixth-order Fresnel lens |
| Range | 13 nautical miles; 24 kilometres (15 mi)[5] |
| Characteristic | F W |
Grand Island Harbor Rear Range Light | |
| Nearest city | Christmas, Michigan |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Architect | US Coast Guard |
| Architectural style | Conical Steel Tower |
| NRHP reference No. | 90000906[6] |
| Added to NRHP | June 26, 1990 |
The grounds only are publicly accessible, but a hike is required.[9]
History
editThe Grand Island Range Lights were lit first in 1868.[1] The original front range light was a wooden pyramid that held a sixth-order Fresnel lens.[1] The original rear range light was a sixth-order Fresnel lens in a wooden tower atop a frame keeper's house,[5] 500 feet (150 m) to the rear of the front range light.[1]
By 1914, these original frame structures were severely rotted, and both were replaced[1] as part of a broader effort of replacing nearly all harbor lights with steel-framed structures.[2] The new front range light was a 23-foot-tall (7.0 m) iron mast.[1] A new automated[2] rear range light was installed 750 feet (230 m) to the rear of the front range light.[1] The new rear range light was a 64-foot (20 m) tower, the upper half (painted white)[10] of which was part of a tower originally located at the Vidal Shoals.[1] near Sault Ste. Marie.[10][11] In 1939, the sixth-order Fresnel lenses were replaced with 350 millimeter glass lenses, which still used acetylene gas.[5] In 1968, the front range light was replaced with a "D9" style tubular steel structure;[5] in 1969 the lights were deactivated.[2]
Rear range light description
editThe 1914 Rear Range Light is a steel conical tower, 64 feet (20 m) high, with a round lantern.[2] The light of one of the tallest, if not the tallest, of the riveted steel plate light towers installed around the Great Lakes.[2][12] The tower sits on a concrete foundation; a metal door in the base of the tower and interior spiral stair provides access to the light. The tower is painted black on the bottom and white on the top, with a black lantern room. The existing light was built in 1914 replacing the original 1868 station.[2][13]
Gallery
edit-
Interior of rear range light -
1968 front range light; foundation of 1914 front range light is to left -
Front range light, with rear in background
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Michigan". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01. Retrieved 2010-01-01.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Grand Island Harbor Rear Range Light". state of Michigan. Archived from the original on 2011-06-06. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
- ^ Pepper, Terry. "Database of Tower Heights". Seeing the Light. terrypepper.com. Archived from the original on 2000-09-18.
- ^ Pepper, Terry. "Database of Focal Heights". Seeing the Light. terrypepper.com. Archived from the original on 2008-08-30.
- ^ a b c d Grand Island Range Lights Archived 2009-11-09 at the Wayback Machine from "Seeing the Light," Terry Pepper, retrieved 1/1/10
- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- ^ "Great Lighthouses". US Forest Service.
- ^ "Grand Island Harbor Range Lighthouse". Lighthouse Friends.
- ^ Publicly accessible lights in Michigan, National Park System, Maritime Heritage Project.
- ^ a b GRAND ISLAND HARBOR RANGE LIGHTS (PDF), US Forest Service
- ^ Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
- ^ Pepper, Terry. "Database of Tower Designs". Seeing the Light. terrypepper.com. Archived from the original on 2009-11-15.
- ^ Maritime History Project, Inventory of Historic Lights, Grand Island Harbor Rear Range Light, National Park Service
External links
edit
- Aerial photography, Grand Island West Channel Rear Range Lighthouse at Marinas.com.
- Grand Island Harbor Range Lighthouse (Bay Furnace) from the Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy
- Satellite view at Google Maps.
- GRAND ISLAND HARBOR RANGE LIGHTS from the US Forest Service