For this week's lighthouse, I'm featuring another one that's on a live webcam. You can see that here, down at the Mackinac Grille.
Perhaps even more interesting, this one didn't start out its working history as a lighthouse, it started out as a tourist attraction. You can read about that here: Wawatam Light
So where is it? It's on the Lake Huron coast of Lake Michigan, and as might be expected, located on the lakeshore of St. Ignace. See where that is by clicking here. As far as local landmarks go, it's not as famous as the Mackinac Bridge, the northern end of which lies just south of St. Ignace, in Straits State Park.
The Lighthouse Directory provides more information about the lighthouse and its history:
"2006 (relocated; tower built 1998). Active (maintained by City of St. Ignace); focal plane 65 ft (20 m); white flash every 5 s. 62 ft (19 m) octagonal tower with lantern and gallery. Lighthouse painted white with red trim; lantern roof is red. ... This lighthouse was originally built by the Michigan highway department as a faux lighthouse at the Monroe Welcome Center on I-75 in the southeastern corner of the state, near the Ohio state line. When the welcome center was renovated in 2004 the highway department donated the structure to the City of St. Ignace. The lighthouse was installed at the end of the former railroad ferry pier, where for many years the ferry Chief Wawatam loaded and unloaded railroad cars crossing the Strait of Mackinac. After a wait for Coast Guard approval the lighthouse was inaugurated as a privately maintained aid to navigation on August 20, 2006."
Cool, huh? Don't forget to stop by if you go to the Upper Peninsula via I-75.
Pictures, and a video:
Video:
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