Port Sanilac Light

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Template:Short descriptionScript error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Script error: No such module "lighthouse tracking".Expression error: Unexpected < operator. Port Sanilac Light is a United States Coast Guard lighthouse located on Point Sanilac, near Port Sanilac on the eastern side of Michigan's Thumb.[1] It is an automated and active aid to navigation on Lake Huron.[2][3]

History

Characterized by shallow water and sandbanks, the Script error: No such module "convert". stretch of coastline between the Fort Gratiot Light and Pointe aux Barques Light is a hazard to navigation. Even after the establishment of the Sand Beach Harbor of Refuge Light in 1875, Script error: No such module "convert". of coast line still remained completely unlit.[4]

Eighteen years after the first attempts to get congressional funding,[5] the station was established and first lit in 1886.[6] This Lake Huron lighthouse is Script error: No such module "convert". north of the Fort Gratiot Lighthouse (Michigan's oldest) in Port Huron, Michigan.

The Port Sanilac Light's foundation consists of dressed stone and timber. The octagon-hourglass-shaped tower (near its top) is made of tiered and reverse stair-stepped brick. It is Script error: No such module "convert". in diameter at its base, and tapers vertically to Script error: No such module "convert". diameter below the gallery. Eschewing the usual corbels, a dozen courses of bricks create the gallery support, with four indentations for windows, creating a watch room for the four points of the compass.[4] The lighthouse was built at a cost of $20,000.[7] The placement and the unique shape were dictated by and created because of budgetary constraints (Congress appropriated only half the money requested). Designed by Eleventh District Engineer Captain Charles E. L. B. Davis, the design has been called "both unique and architecturally significant in its elegance."[4] The tower is white with a red roof.[8]

This "handsome" lighthouse shares its design with only one other, Ile Aux Galets, also known as Skilligallee Island Light, on Lake Michigan.[9]

The Port Sanilac Light tower is capped with a cast iron lantern room,[4] which still houses a fourth order Fresnel lens[6] manufactured by Barbier and Fenestre of Paris. The lens and its brass reflector on one segment (the reflector blocked the lens on the landward side) send the light out in a 300 degree arc across the lake. Its focal plane is Script error: No such module "convert". shines a beam of light visible for up to Script error: No such module "convert". in all directions, thus closing most of the Script error: No such module "convert".-gap mentioned above. The light sits atop high ground at the head of a small bay.[4] This is one of only 70 such Fresnel lenses that are still operational in the United States, sixteen of which are use on the Great Lakes of which eight are in Michigan.[10]

Port Sanilac Light Station — Lake St. is a registered site on the National Register of Historic Places, being added on August 19, 1984 as listed site #84001842. Name of Listing: PORT SANILAC LIGHT STATION (U.S. COAST GUARD/GREAT LAKES TR).[8]

The Port Sanilac Light complex currently consists of five historic structures. In addition to the light tower and ornate brick Lighthouse keeper's residence,[4] the brick oil house,[11] wooden outhouse, and well also survive. The well is covered by a safety platform of wooden planks.[7][12]

Because of its unique and picturesque form and location, it is often the subject of photographs, and even of needlepoint illustrations.[13] Drawings have also been produced,[14] as have postcards.[8]

The original fourth order Fresnel lens is still operative, being one of only 70 such lenses that remain operational in the United States; sixteen of them are use on the Great Lakes, of which eight are in Michigan.[15]

The lighthouse, including the keeper's house, is for sale.[16][17][18][19]

Getting there

The lighthouse is private property; access around it is prohibited. Viewing from the parking lot is very good. You can also walk down toward the beach and breakwater to get a good view of the lighthouse and harbor.

From File:M-25.svg M-25 in Port Sanilac, Michigan, turn east onto Cherry Street, taking it to the Lake Huron shore. Public parking is at the terminus of Cherry Street, directly south of the light. The breakwater "is a nice place from which the lighthouse can be photographed."[20][21]

See also

References

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  1. ↑ Cite error: Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".
  2. ↑ Interactive map on Michigan lighthouses Detroit News.
  3. ↑ Port Sanilac Lighthouse Template:Webarchive, Pure Michigan.
  4. ↑ a b c d e f Port Sanilac Lighthouse at Seeing the Light by Terry Pepper.
  5. ↑ Lighthouse Central, Port Sanilac Lighthouse Photographs, History and Directions, The Ultimate Guide to East Michigan Lighthouses by Jerry Roach (Publisher: Bugs Publishing LLC - July 2006). Template:ISBN.
  6. ↑ a b Template:Cite uscghist
  7. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ a b c Cite error: Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".
  9. ↑ Template:Cite rowlett
  10. ↑ United States Coast Guard, Fresnel Lenses Still in Operation Template:Webarchive
  11. ↑ Photo of the Script error: No such module "convert". oil house at Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light.
  12. ↑ National Park Service, Maritime History Project, Inventory of Lights, Port Sanilac light.
  13. ↑ Needlepoint of Port Sanilac Light.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
  14. ↑ Mulgrew, Marilyn, Drawing of Port Sanilac Light. Template:Webarchive
  15. ↑ Cite error: Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".
  16. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". Photo gallery
  17. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". Photo gallery
  18. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  19. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". Same photo, pinned at Facebook
  20. ↑ Lighthouse Friends, Port Sanilac Lighthouse.
  21. ↑ U.S. Lighthouses, Port Sanilac Light.

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External links

Script error: No such module "Navbox". Template:National Register of Historic Places in Michigan

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