Grand Island Harbor Rear Range Light

The Grand Island Harbor Rear Range Light is a lighthouse located off M-28 in Munising Township, Michigan. It is also known as the Bay Furnace Rear Range Light, Christmas Rear Range Light,[7] or End of the Road Light.[8] The corresponding front range light was replaced in 1968; the rear range light was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.[6] It is no longer an active aid to navigation.

Grand Island Harbor Rear Range Light
Rear Range Light
LocationMunising Township, Michigan
Coordinates46°26′12″N 86°41′28″W
Year first lit1914[1]
Automated1914[2]
Deactivated1969
FoundationConcrete pier
ConstructionSteel
Tower shapeFrustum of a cone
Markings / patternBlack and white Daymark tower/black lantern
Tower height64 feet (20 m)[3]
Focal height70 feet (21 m)[4]
Original lensSixth-order Fresnel lens
Range13 nautical miles; 24 kilometres (15 mi)[5]
CharacteristicF W 
ARLHS numberUSA-981
Heritageplace listed on the National Register of Historic Places 
Grand Island Harbor Rear Range Light
Nearest cityChristmas, Michigan
Arealess than one acre
ArchitectUS Coast Guard
Architectural styleConical Steel Tower
NRHP reference No.90000906[6]
Added to NRHPJune 26, 1990

The grounds only are publicly accessible, but a hike is required.[9]

History

The Grand Island Range Lights were lit first in 1868.[1] The original front range light was a wooden pyramid that held a sixth-order Fresnel lens.[1] The original rear range light was a sixth-order Fresnel lens in a wooden tower atop a frame keeper's house,[5] 500 feet (150 m) to the rear of the front range light.[1]

By 1914, these original frame structures were severely rotted, and both were replaced[1] as part of a broader effort of replacing nearly all harbor lights with steel-framed structures.[2] The new front range light was a 23-foot-tall (7.0 m) iron mast.[1] A new automated[2] rear range light was installed 750 feet (230 m) to the rear of the front range light.[1] The new rear range light was a 64-foot (20 m) tower, the upper half (painted white)[10] of which was part of a tower originally located at the Vidal Shoals.[1] near Sault Ste. Marie.[10][11] In 1939, the sixth-order Fresnel lenses were replaced with 350 millimeter glass lenses, which still used acetylene gas.[5] In 1968, the front range light was replaced with a "D9" style tubular steel structure;[5] in 1969 the lights were deactivated.[2]

Rear range light description

The 1914 Rear Range Light is a steel conical tower, 64 feet (20 m) high, with a round lantern.[2] The light of one of the tallest, if not the tallest, of the riveted steel plate light towers installed around the Great Lakes.[2][12] The tower sits on a concrete foundation; a metal door in the base of the tower and interior spiral stair provides access to the light. The tower is painted black on the bottom and white on the top, with a black lantern room. The existing light was built in 1914 replacing the original 1868 station.[2][13]

  • Interior of rear range light
  • 1968 front range light; foundation of 1914 front range light is to left
  • Front range light, with rear in background

References
  1. "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Michigan". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01. Retrieved 2010-01-01.
  2. "Grand Island Harbor Rear Range Light". state of Michigan. Archived from the original on 2011-06-06. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
  3. Pepper, Terry. "Database of Tower Heights". Seeing the Light. terrypepper.com. Archived from the original on 2000-09-18.
  4. Pepper, Terry. "Database of Focal Heights". Seeing the Light. terrypepper.com. Archived from the original on 2008-08-30.
  5. Grand Island Range Lights Archived 2009-11-09 at the Wayback Machine from "Seeing the Light," Terry Pepper, retrieved 1/1/10
  6. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  7. "Great Lighthouses". US Forest Service.
  8. "Grand Island Harbor Range Lighthouse". Lighthouse Friends.
  9. Publicly accessible lights in Michigan, National Park System, Maritime Heritage Project.
  10. GRAND ISLAND HARBOR RANGE LIGHTS (PDF), US Forest Service
  11. Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
  12. Pepper, Terry. "Database of Tower Designs". Seeing the Light. terrypepper.com. Archived from the original on 2009-11-15.
  13. Maritime History Project, Inventory of Historic Lights, Grand Island Harbor Rear Range Light, National Park Service
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