If you think of Lower Michigan as a mitten for your left hand, Port Sanilac (map) is on the thumb on the shore of Lake Huron. On the other side of the southern extension of Lake Huron is Canada, and at the far southern end of the lake, the St. Clair River drains the lake toward Detroit.
If Sanilac sounds familiar, it has a lot to do with milk. Sanilac is a baby formula, and Sanalac is a powdered milk. And that part of Michigan has a lot of dairy farms.
So let's find out more about the lighthouse.
Web site: Port Sanilac Lighthouse (great history)
It was built in 5 months in 1886 for $20,000. A bargain. It went automatic in 1928.
Port Sanilac, MI at Lighthouse Friends
"Situated 130 feet from the lakeshore, octagonal Port Sanilac Lighthouse stands fifty-nine feet tall and is connected to the nearby two-story keeper’s by a covered passageway. The eight-room dwelling had two, 2,200-gallon brick cisterns built beneath its kitchen that were used to collect rainwater for domestic use. Ile aux Galets Lighthouse is the only tower that resembles the one at Port Sanilac."At the end of the Lighthouse Friends page, this status is stated:
"Carl Rosenfeld, of Carl’s Chop House fame, purchased the dwelling portion of Port Sanilac Lighthouse for $4,000 in 1928, four years before opening his popular Detroit restaurant. The tower, which still contains its Fresnel lens, was sold to the Rosenfeld family in 2000, though the Coast Guard is still responsible for the light. The light station was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.So I wondered if there was anything more recent.
In 2012, the Rosenfeld family placed Port Sanilac Lighthouse, along with a three-bedroom guest cottage, on the market for $1.599 million. The keeper’s dwelling, which was thoroughly renovated in the mid-1990s, now features three nautical-themed bedrooms, one full bathroom, a half bath, a kitchen, living room, dining room, and a Florida room added in the 1940s with a wall of windows facing the lake. The historic brick oil house, wooden outhouse, and well also remain on the property. The lighthouse, without the guest house, was still on the market in 2013 with a sale price of $999,800."
And there is!
Port Sanilac Lighthouse now open to public
"Jeff Shook, lighthouse owner and Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy president, purchased the lighthouse in late 2015 and privately funded the restoration. The home attached to the lighthouse at 81 S. Lake St., is used by Shook’s family as a summer home, but the lighthouse tower will be open to the public on Fridays for tours."So, it's possible to get inside the tower. And based on one of my pictures below, it still has a Fresnel lens as its light source.
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