Fort Gratiot Lighthouse

location-Port Huron, MI

built-1829

active beacon-yes

stamp- yes, at the Lightship Huron

players-Jen, Lincoln, Spencer, Jackson and Grandpa

Just a few days after our visits to The Colony, the Harsens Island Range Lights and the Peche Island Lighthouse, we we're ready to get right back out there and see more!  Once you get going you don't want to stop.    After all that warm weather, this day felt pretty frigid, brrrrrrr.  But, we were not about to let that be an excuse to not take advantage of the day.  We chose Port Huron for today's destitantion.  There is a lot to do there--a lighthouse, a lightship, a museum, a depot and a faux house.  We really like to wear out the kids.  Or, do they like to wear me out, hmmmm?

Our first stop of the day was to Lighthouse Park to check out the Fort Gratiot Lighthouse.  It is the oldest lighthouse in Michigan.  It marks the entrance of the St. Clair River from Port Huron.  Fort Gratiot was originally a military post and was named after General Charles Gratiot.  He was also an engineer and was in charge of construction on the  lighthouse. Construction on the original lighthouse began in 1825.   I'm guessing he didn't do the greatest job, because just three short years later, in 1828, the lighthouse collapsed in a storm.

It seems as though they opted not to put him in charge of reconstruction.  The new lighthouse was built in 1829, by Lucius Lyon.  He later went on to become a United States senator.  The lighthouse location was moved north of the base.  This was to make it easier for ships to spot it.  The new lighthouse was well constructed, but also had a couple problems that made it hard for ship to distinguish it from the rest of the city lights.  In 1933, the fixed white light was changed to an automated flashing green light.  The other problem was that it was too short.  In the early 1860's the tower was raised from 74 feet to it's current height of 82 feet.

Colonel George McDougall, Jr. was the first official lighthouse keeper.  He served from 1825 until his death, in 1842.

Public tours stopped in 2008, when the Coast Guard deemed it unsafe.  The lighthouse is currently off limits and behind a fence, so we couldn't get very close to it.  The property is five acres and consists of the tower, the keepers house, crew quarters and the foghorn building.  It's just north of the Blue Water Bridge.  The lighthouse and the property was officially signed over to the Friends of the Fort Gratiot Light on September 2, 2010.  They are trying to raise money to restore the grounds.  If you are interested, you can adopt a step or become a member.  We can't wait to go back and visit when it reopens!

view from the beach with the Blue Water Bridge

This is as close as we could get to take a family shot in front of the lighthouse.
It's the white thing behind the fence.

Peche Island Lighthouse

location-Marine City, MI

built-1908

deactivated -1982

stamp-yes

players-Jen, Lincoln, Spencer, Jackson and Grandpa

After our accidental discovery of The Colony and our car ferry ride to Harsens Island to check out the four range lights we had one final light to explore.  Our last stop of the day was the quiet little town of Marine City, the current home of the Peche Island Lighthouse.  Interestingly enough, it's original home was on a crib, off of (wait for it) Peche Island, in Lake St. Clair.  Marine City is located in southern St. Clair County and is known for being the former ship building center of the Great Lakes.  The lighthouse is located right downtown in the "Nautical Mile".   The river front is really pretty and well maintained.  I hear they have a great beach, but it was a little to chilly for that this time.

anchors away!

snack time

Another cool thing about Marine City is that it's directly across the river from Ontario, Canada.  We plan on taking advantage of that car ferry and visiting some Canadian lighthouses in the near future.  I already have my passport and my sister got her enhanced license yesterday.  I've been to Canada hundreds of times and never knew about the car ferry option.  Hopefully, we can take the kids next summer!

Canada-right across the river

watching to car ferry to Ontario

the welcome committee on the car ferry

The Peche Island Lighthouse was built in 1908 and was used as the rear range light.  This was actually a replacement light.  The original light was called "Isle Aux Peches Range", and was built in 1896.  (It means, isle of fish.)  The range lights marked the channel from Lake St. Clair to the entrance of the Detroit River.  When the light was originally built it was 56 feet tall.  In 1926, 10 more feet were added to it, making it 66 feet tall.  In 1982, the light was decommissioned and scheduled to be dismantled.  It was in pretty rough shaped by this time and had a pretty big lean. 

The local residents, being so proud of their rich maritime history, couldn't bear the thought of the light being used for scrap metal.  They raised the funds to buy the light and have it moved to the banks of the St. Clair River.  After being taken apart and reassembled the light now stands at 60 feet tall.  Now we can all get to see this piece of history us close and personal.

After the light was taken down it was replaced with a skeletal steel tower with an orange and white daymark.

For those of you lighthouse passporters, there is a stamp available at the Marine City Chamber of Commerce.  It's located right downtown by the light, but they are only open until 1pm.  Unfortunately, we didn't make it on time. We'll have to stop in when we take our trip to Ontario.

plaque on the light

Marine City fire department memorial

Grandpa & Jax

sacked out