Thunder Bay Island Light

Thunder Bay Island
Thunder Bay Island Light' undated USCG

Location	Alpena County, Michigan
Coordinates	45°02′30″N 83°12′00″W / 45.04167°N 83.20000°W / 45.04167; -83.20000Coordinates: 45°02′30″N 83°12′00″W / 45.04167°N 83.20000°W / 45.04167; -83.20000
Year first constructed	1857 (station established 1831)
Year first lit	1857
Automated	1983
Foundation	Dressed stone and timber
Construction	Limestone
Tower shape	Frustum of a cone with attached keeper's residence
Markings / pattern	White with red lantern
Height	Tower – 63 feet (19 m)
Focal height	Focal plane – 59 feet (18 m)
Original lens	Fourth-order Fresnel lens^[1]
Range	17
Characteristic	Al GW 20s ^[2]
ARLHS number	USA-847
USCG number	7-11495
Thunder Bay Island Light Station
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Nearest city	Alpena, Michigan
Area	2 acres (0.81 ha)
Built	1832
MPS	U.S. Coast Guard Lighthouses and Light Stations on the Great Lakes TR
NRHP Reference #	84001371^[3]
Added to NRHP	July 19, 1984

Thunder Bay Island Light, located on Thunder Bay Island's southeast tip, is one of the oldest operating lighthouses in Michigan. The third operating U.S. lighthouse in Lake Huron was built here in 1831, but it disintegrated almost at once and was rebuilt in 1832 of local limestone.^[1] This 40-foot (12 m) 1830s light tower was raised 10 feet (3.0 m)) to a height of 50 feet (15 m) in 1857, and sheathed with brick. A fourth order Fresnel lens was installed.^[1] This 1857 light tower is the current Thunder Bay Island Light, although the tower has been further altered and is currently 63 feet (19 m) high.^[2]

A fog bell was installed in 1858,^[1] and the lightkeeper's house was rebuilt in 1868.^[1] A steam-powered fog horn was added in 1871, and a fog signal building sheltering the fog signal apparatus was constructed in 1892.^[1]

The lighthouse was manned during the seasons of Great Lakes navigation from 1832 until automation in 1983, more than 150 years.

Current status

The Thunder Bay Island Light was automated in 1983. The lighthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 19, 1984; however, the lighthouse and adjoining infrastructure resources have deteriorated since automation. In 1997 the United States Coast Guard leased Thunder Bay Island Light to the Thunder Bay Island Preservation Society (TBILPS).^[1]

Under TBILPS's guidance, the light has been the object of an intense rescue effort. They have been the subject of a feature article in Lighthouse Digest.^[4]

In 2004, Stephen B. Tongue and TBILPS published a book on Thunder Bay Island's history and heritage, with proceeds assigned to the historic preservation of the island.^[5]

Notes

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Lighthouses and Life-Saving Stations". Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Retrieved 2009-10-31.
1 2 Light List, Volume VII, Great Lakes (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard.
↑ Staff (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
↑ D'Entremont, Jeremy Rescuing of the Thunder Bay Beacon. Lighthouse Digest.
↑ Tongue, Steve Lanterns and Lifeboats ($14.95 plus $2.00 shipping & handling to: TBILPS, P.O. Box 212, Alpena MI 49707, Attn: Book Committee.

References

Stephen D. Tongue, "Lanterns & Lifeboats: A History of Thunder Bay Island" (Alpena, Mich.; Serge Publications, 2004).

External links

Lighthouse Central, Photographs, History, Directions and Way points for Thunder Bay Island Lighthouse, The Ultimate Guide to East Michigan Lighthouses by Jerry Roach (Publisher: Bugs Publishing LLC - July 2006). ISBN 0-9747977-1-5; ISBN 978-0-9747977-1-7.
Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Michigan's Eastern Lower Peninsula". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Google maps.
Thunder Bay Island Light, Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light.
"Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Michigan". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.

Lighthouses in Michigan

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 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

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 South Manitou Island Waugoshance White River White Shoal

Eastern Lower Peninsula	Alpena Caseville Harbor Charity Island Cheboygan Crib Cheboygan River Front Range DeTour Reef 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

U.S. National Register of Historic Places

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