Preparing to Shine Again...

New lantern installed on county’s McGulpin Point Lighthouse

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Special to Harbor Light Newspaper

Under a crisp blue morning sky last week a newly fabricated lantern and railing were driven aboard a flatbed truck Thursday from Moran Iron Works in Onaway, where they were constructed, to the McGulpin Point Lighthouse, centerpiece of Emmet County’s new park on the Straits of Mackinac just west of Mackinaw City.

Rainy weather had delayed the 50 mile trip and installation by three days.

Attending last Thursday’s installation were Sandy Planisek, chair of Emmet County’s Historical Commission; Dick Moehl, president of the Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association; GLLKA Executive Director Terry Pepper; Emmet County Controller Lyn Johnson; and Jim Tamlyn, chair of the county’s board of commissioners.

“To see this come true in such a short time is a dream,” said Moehl. “It’s really a tribute to Emmet County and to all the people that helped make it happen.”

Emmet County purchased the lighthouse from a private owner last July and will make it accessible to the public this summer. A new light within the lantern will be turned on during a ceremony on Saturday, May 30, marking the first time in over 100 years that the lighthouse will again protect shipping on the Straits.

Originally lit in 1869 to guide water traffic through the treacherous Straits of Mackinac, the lighthouse operated until 1906 when it was replaced by the more effective Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse and fog signal to the east.

“We applaud this forward thinking move made by the county,” says Moehl. “It’s rare for a lighthouse to be returned to the public domain after it has passed into private ownership.”

The lighthouse, in private hands since 1913, remains in remarkably good historical condition.

The McGulpin Point lighthouse was one of five on Lake Michigan and Lake Superior that were almost mirror images of each other. In a style often referred to as Norman Gothic, the structure was fashioned of Cream City brick, made from clay found near Milwaukee and favored by the Milwaukee-based United States Lighthouse Board, with buttressed corners and an octagonal tower.

Besides being opened for tours, the lighthouse has been reestablished as a Private Aid to Navigation (PATON) approved by the US Coast Guard.

The public is invited to attend the gala ceremony May 30, with music, fanfare and refreshments.

Details of the lighthouse and its history can been viewed at www.co.emmet.mi.us/HistoricCommission/ Commission.htm

This is part of the April 29, 2009 online edition of Harbor Light Newspaper.

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