Harbor Beach, Michigan
Chamber of Commerce
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Harbor Beach, Michigan Chamber of Commerce |
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Harbor Beach, MI Lighthouse |
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| The Harbor Beach Lighthouse is located at the end of the north breakwater entrance to the harbor of refuge, created by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, protecting the harbor of Harbor Beach, Harbor Beach is in the county of Huron, Michigan,
U.S.C.G. District 9. Latitude: 43.8458 Longitude: -82.6323 From Highway 25 (Huron Avenue) in Harbor Beach, turn east on Trescott Street and follow to its end at Bathing Beach Park. A good, distant shot of the lighthouse is available from the end of Trescott pier. In addition, the Marina and Waterworks Park, on the north end of the city, offers a good view of the lighthouse. History Prior to the 1900's, this port was a major harbor of refuge and was the home of one of the most active lifesaving crews on Lake Huron. In the 1880's, a massive breakwater extension was constructed and many lake boats took shelter. Dozens of shipwrecks lay around the area, evidence of the boats that tried, but did not make, the shelter. Since 1885, the Harbor Beach Breakwater Lighthouse has been an area of refuge to ships caught in the fury of Mother Nature and Lake Huron during stormy seas. This lighthouse replaced the wood skeleton lighthouse, built in 1877. The lighthouse was built on a timber foundation crib. It is a conical, brick structure encased in cast iron plates. It is surmounted by a round cast iron watch room which supports a ten-sided, cast iron lantern. The light sits 54 feet above the harbor and can be seen for up to 20 miles out to sea. A concrete cap, partially faced with brick veneer, supports the 45-foot tower. Below the brick veneer, extending to the lake bottom is a timber cribbing filled with 100 to 300 pound of stones, which provides the added mass needed to prevent the structure from overturning or sliding. In the lighthouse, the first deck housed a cook stove and was a living area. The next two decks were sleeping rooms. The fourth deck was used as a workroom and fifth was the watch room at the balcony level. The lantern room is located at the top on the sixth deck. The original fresnel lens, made in Paris in 1884, is now on display at the Grice House and Museum in Harbor Beach. Next to the Harbor Beach lighthouse was a small building, which contained equipment to operate the fog signal, but was removed when the light was automated. Today the lighthouse is automated and a welcome sight for the many pleasure boats and fishermen that travel Lake Huron between Port Huron and the Saginaw Bay Area. It has a rotating white light with 20,000 candlepower with a visibility of 21 miles. |
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Sparkplug lighthouses are cast iron structures built at offshore locations. The keeper's quarters is a round building, usually three stories in height. The round lantern room sits atop the keeper's quarters, and the whole structure rests on a solid
foundation, usually a concrete or stone caisson.
Because of their shape, these lighthouses have come to be called "sparkplugs." Before the day of gasoline engines, they were sometimes called "coffee pots." In many places they were called "bug lights," because at a distance they appeared short and
broad, rather like a beetle on the surface of the water.
Sparkplugs were prefabricated, brought to the site by barge, and put in place by floating cranes. They were a low-cost solution to the problem of providing offshore lighthouses in the sounds and bays of the northeastern and mid-Atlantic states, where all
but three of the surviving examples are located.
Some facts about the lighthouse.
Existing Sound Signal Building? No (dismantled)
Existing Keepers Quarters? Yes
Current Use: Active Aid to Navigation
Owner/Manager: U.S. Coast Guard
Open to the Public? No
Web Site: http://www.harborbeachchamber.com/lighthouse.html
National Register Status: Listed Reference #83000850
Name of Listing: Harbor Beach Lighthouse (U.S. Coast Guard/Great Lakes )
On State List/Inventory? Yes;
More information:
Great Lakes landscape and lighthouse photography by Steven Huyser-Honig
Harbor Beach Lighthouse Preservation Society
Contact: Buzz Hoerr
Address: 330 Brooklake Road
City: Colchester, VT 05446
Phone: (802) 863-2486
Email: hoerrfam@msn.com
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