Manistee Pierhead lights

The Manistee Pierhead lights are a pair of active aids to navigation located on the north and south pier in the harbor of Manistee, Michigan, "Lake Michigan’s Victorian Port City."[2]

North Pierhead Light
Manistee Breakwater Lighthouse
LocationManistee, Michigan
Coordinates44.2517°N 86.3464°W / 44.2517; -86.3464
Year first constructed1870
Year first lit1870
Automated1927
Foundationpier
ConstructionCast Iron
Tower shapecylindrical
Markings / patternwhite with black lantern
Tower height39 feet (12 m)
Focal height55 feet (17 m)
Original lensfifth order Fresnel Lens
Current lens12-inch (300 mm) Tideland Signal ML-300 Acrylic Optic
Intensity5000 candlepower
Range15 nautical miles (28 km; 17 mi)[1]
CharacteristicIso W 6s
Fog signalHORN: 1 blast every 15s (2s bl)[1] Operates from April 1 to November 1[1]
ARLHS numberUSA-468
USCG number7-18450
Heritageplace listed on the National Register of Historic Places 
Manistee North Pier
NRHP reference No.90000718

History

The first light was on the south pier in 1870. Unfortunately, it burnt in the Great fire of 1871, October 8, 1871, along with the town of Manistee.[3][4] Coincidentally, Manistee burnt on the same day as the Great Chicago Fire, Peshtigo Fire in Wisconsin, and fires in Port Huron and Holland, Michigan.[5]

Two lighthouses were built, one on each pier in 1875. Over the years the lights have been moved several times, including moves to and from the mainland, and to and from the south to the north pier. Lights have been torn down and rebuilt.

The current tower is located on the north pier. It is constructed of cast iron, and was first listed in 1927. The tower is a white cylinder, and the keepers house is separate. The original lens was a Fifth Order Fresnel lens.[6] The tower has also been rebuilt as the pier has been extended. Other changes have involved the placement and configuration of the fog horn.[2] The present tower is 39 feet (12 m) tall. The catwalk is one of only four that survive in the State of Michigan.[7] National Register of Historic Places, Reference # 90000718 The tower is capped with a ten-sided steel lantern. The light uses a 5,000 candlepower incandescent electric bulb, and has a flashing mechanism which displays "a group occulting white light" over 30 seconds. Its focal plane is 55 feet (17 m), and is visible for 12 nautical miles (22 km; 14 mi) in clear weather. The "Type C" diaphone is powered by an electric compressor housed in the tower, and emits a group of three blasts every 30 seconds.[2] There is also a radio beacon.[8]

The northern pier light is located on the same side of the river as the Manistee Coast Guard station, and within shouting distance of the Manistee South pier light.[4]

The south pier has a 37-foot (11 m) steel tower navigational aid. This was constructed when the lighthouse was moved to the north pier in 1927.[2]

Manistee Pierhead Light was put up for sale under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act in 2009.[9] On June 30, 2011, ownership of the light was transferred to the City of Manistee. The Manistee County Historical Museum will maintain the light.[10]

Directions

From US 31 go 1.5 miles (2.4 km) west on Memorial Drive, to the Fifth Ave. Beach and Park.

See also
  • Lighthouses in the United States

Notes
  1. Light List, Volume VII, Great Lakes (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard.
  2. Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light, Manistee Pierhead Lighthouse.
  3. Lighthouses of Michigan, Manistee Pierhead lights.
  4. Boatnerd, Manistee Light.
  5. The Great Fire Of 1871
  6. "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Michigan". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.
  7. National Park Service, National Maritime Heritage Program, Inventory of Historic Lights, Manistee North Pier.
  8. Manistee Pierhead Lighthouse Page from Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy.
  9. "NHLPA 2009 Program, Notices of Availability". www.nps.gov. Retrieved June 6, 2009.
  10. "Manistee North Pierhead Light". Manistee County Historical Museum.

Further reading
  • Bibliography on Michigan lighthouses.
  • Crompton, Samuel Willard & Michael J. Rhein, The Ultimate Book of Lighthouses (2002) ISBN 1-59223-102-0; ISBN 978-1-59223-102-7.
  • Hyde, Charles K., and Ann and John Mahan. The Northern Lights: Lighthouses of the Upper Great Lakes. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1995. ISBN 0-8143-2554-8 ISBN 9780814325544.
  • Jones, Ray & Bruce Roberts, American Lighthouses (Globe Pequot, September 1, 1998, 1st Ed.) ISBN 0-7627-0324-5; ISBN 978-0-7627-0324-1.
  • Jones, Ray,The Lighthouse Encyclopedia, The Definitive Reference (Globe Pequot, January 1, 2004, 1st ed.) ISBN 0-7627-2735-7; ISBN 978-0-7627-2735-3.
  • Lynn, Bruce. "A Light is on in the Graveyard [Whitefish Point]." Lighthouse Digest (Aug 1997), pp. 1–3.
  • Noble, Dennis, Lighthouses & Keepers: U. S. Lighthouse Service and Its Legacy (Annapolis: U. S. Naval Institute Press, 1997). ISBN 1-55750-638-8; ISBN 978-1-55750-638-2.
  • Oleszewski, Wes, Great Lakes Lighthouses, American and Canadian: A Comprehensive Directory/Guide to Great Lakes Lighthouses, (Gwinn, Michigan: Avery Color Studios, Inc., 1998) ISBN 0-932212-98-0.
  • Penrod, John, Lighthouses of Michigan, (Berrien Center, Michigan: Penrod/Hiawatha, 1998) ISBN 978-0-942618-78-5 ISBN 9781893624238.
  • Pepper, Terry. "Seeing the Light: Lighthouses on the western Great Lakes".
  • Putnam, George R., Lighthouses and Lightships of the United States, (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1933).
  • United States Coast Guard, Aids to Navigation, (Washington, DC: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1945).
  • Scott T. Price. "U. S. Coast Guard Aids to Navigation: A Historical Bibliography". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.
  • Wagner, John L. "Beacons Shining in the Night: The Lighthouses of Michigan". Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University.
  • Wagner, John L., Michigan Lighthouses: An Aerial Photographic Perspective, (East Lansing, Michigan: John L. Wagner, 1998) ISBN 1-880311-01-1 ISBN 9781880311011.
  • Wright, Larry and Wright, Patricia, Great Lakes Lighthouses Encyclopedia Hardback (Erin: Boston Mills Press, 2006) ISBN 1-55046-399-3.
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