If you want to see a lighthouse without any land around it, I've got a good one for you. Michigan's White Shoal Lighthouse marks a shallow spot in Lake Michigan about 20 miles due west of the Mackinac Bridge (which if you don't know, is at the northern end of Lake Michigan). On the little map below, you can see Hog Island (Hog I.) -- the light is about halfway between the bridge and Hog Island. Somewhat near the "S" in "St. Ignace".
Building a lighthouse out there was a challenge back in the early 1900s -- they had to build a "crib" to support it, and put the lighthouse on top of it. The crib had to be sturdy enough to stand up to lake ice and winter conditions up there, which can get feisty.
Lighthouse Friends has a good article about it, leading up to its current status. It was for sale in 2014; I don't known if anyone bought it.
White Shoal, MI
Obviously you can't see this one from shore, you'd have to take a boat. The article notes that if you want to see the Fresnel lens that used to be in it, you can go to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum in Whitefish Point. And it's also on Michigan license plates devoted to saving lighthouses.
Now to the pictures. Basically a lighthouse and water -- or ice and snow.
 |
| It can get cold out there. Picture by Dick Moehl. |
No comments:
Post a Comment