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How
to Find the Lighthouse
From Rogers City, take US-23 north approximately 7 miles.
The lighthouse is located in Presque Isle County's Lighthouse Park.
DO NOT TURN at 40 Mile
Point Road, but continue north past the large, brown Lighthouse Park sign on
the right side of the road. The entrance to the park is about 100
yards north of this sign.
From Mackinaw City, take US-23
south from the intersection of I-75 & US-23, drive south approximately 50
miles. You will see a large, brown Lighthouse Park sign on the right
side of the road. The park entrance is approximately 100 yards south
of this sign, on the left side of the road.
If boating Lake Huron, stay at the full
service Rogers City
Marina and contact the Harbormaster to arrange courtesy transportation
to the lighthouse. This service is only available during the hours the lighthouse
museum is open.
The park entrance is marked with painted
renderings of the lighthouse. As you enter the park, tune your car radio to
107.3 FM to hear a brief description and history of the site.
There is ample parking within the park. RV and bus parking is also
available.
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40 Mile Point Lighthouse
A Brief History
In 1889, the Lighthouse Board recommended
that $25,000 be appropriated for construction of a new light and fog signal
near Hammond Bay on Lake Huron. Congress finally authorized the project in
1893, but failed to provide the necessary appropriation. The Lighthouse
Board requested funding in its 1894 annual report and Congress authorized
the funds as part of the Sundry Civil Appropriations Act. Major Milton
B. Adams, Eleventh District Engineer selected and surveyed a site
approximately 40 miles southeast of Old Mackinaw Point and 40 miles
northwest of Thunder Bay. The property, over 22 acres in all, was purchased
for $200.00. Plans and specifications for the station were approved in
February 1896 and contracts for the ironwork for the large fog whistles were
awarded soon afterwards. When the materials arrived at the Detroit depot,
they were loaded aboard the lightship, Amaranth, and arrived at 40 Mile
Point on July 5, 1896. Work began immediately to construct a wood-framed
building that would house the work crew during construction of the
lighthouse and later serve as a barn for the keeper's horses. This structure
still stands today and has been restored for use as a gift shop.
The main lighthouse structure models the Big Bay lighthouse which was being
constructed simultaneously near Marquette in the Upper Peninsula. 40 Mile
Point is a two-story duplex with a tower incorporated into the center of the
side-wall facing Lake Huron. Its footprint measures 35 feet by 57 feet.
Constructed on a 20" thick foundation, each 16" thick exterior wall is made
up of double brick walls separated by an air space that provides the only
insulation. The 12-foot square tower stands 52 feet in height and is capped
by an octagonal cast-iron lantern room. The mirror-image apartments on each
side of the dwelling provided complete privacy for the keeper and his
assistant. Each apartment features it own main entry, cellar, kitchen,
parlor, tower access and stairway to the bedrooms on the second floor.
Skylights were installed in each stairway to enable the keeper and assistant
to monitor the light from the warmth of their apartment.
Construction was completed by November 12, 1896, but winter was at hand and
it was too late in the year to activate the light. The Board hired a
temporary caretaker to stay at the light until the new keeper arrived.
Keeper Xavier Rains transferred from Round Island Light on the St. Mary's
River and arrived at 40 Mile Point around January 4, 1897 accompanied by his
wife, Evelyn Smith Rains, his sister and his mother.
Assistant Keeper Edward J. Lane transferred from the Devil's Island light on
Lake Superior and arrived about the same time with his wife, Tine Dissett
Lane, and their small child.
Mr. Rains' first Journal entry notes, "April 30, 1897 - We got everything
ready and lit up at sunset. Raining all day and night. Blowing almost a gale
from the North."
In 1910, Congress abolished the Lighthouse Board and established the Bureau
of Lighthouses. By 1939, total personnel reporting directly or indirectly to
the Bureau was 5,355. Keepers and Assistants accounted for 1,170 of this
number. In 1939, the Bureau was abolished and its functions were transferred
to the U. S. Coast Guard where responsibility for lighthouses remains today.
40 Mile Point's last official lighthouse keeper was C. P. Tupper who made
the final entry in the journal on December 31, 1943 - "Keeper working on
inventory a.m. Went to town to get car from garage." In January 1944, the
United States Coast Guard took over responsibility for maintenance and
operation of the 40 Mile Point Light Station. The era of the lighthouse
keeper was at an end.
Throughout the years, the Coast Guard continued to maintain the light and
the surrounding grounds using the reservation for training, housing, and as
a retreat for hunting and fishing.
The land and all buildings, except the lighthouse and light and 2.4 acres,
were conveyed to Presque Isle County on August 16, 1971, by the Bureau of
Outdoor Recreation under the "Legacy of Parks" program. The reservation
became a county park known as Lighthouse Park. The county assumed
responsibility for the upkeep and maintenance of the lighthouse and the
reservation, but the Coast Guard continued to be responsible for maintaining
the light. On July 19, 1984, the site was placed on the National Register of
Historic Places.
Over the ensuing years, the light station became a favorite spot for
picnics, swimming and hiking. Unfortunately, the station, and particularly
the lighthouse, began to deteriorate. Several attempts at restoration were
made by the county and others with minimal success.
The lighthouse was declared surplus and assigned to the Administrator of
General Services for disposal in 1996. Subsequently, Presque Isle County,
with the assistance of the 40 Mile Point Lighthouse Society, applied to have
the property conveyed to the county under the Federal Property and
Administrative Services Act of 1949.
In September of 1998, the county was advised that their application had been
approved and accepted. In November 1998, the Deed to the property was turned
over to the county. Since that time, the county and the 40 Mile Point
Lighthouse Society have been working to restore and preserve the entire
site. The park is open year-round to the public. One apartment in the
lighthouse is occupied by a full-time caretaker; the other apartment has
become a nautical museum staffed by Society volunteers and others interested
in preservation of the site. |
