Poverty Island Light Station

Poverty Island Light Station


Location	On Poverty Island in NW Lake Michigan, 5.8 miles (9.3 km) south of the Garden Peninsula
Coordinates	45°31′38″N 86°39′49″W / 45.52722°N 86.66361°W / 45.52722; -86.66361Coordinates: 45°31′38″N 86°39′49″W / 45.52722°N 86.66361°W / 45.52722; -86.66361
Year first constructed	1875
Year first lit	1875
Automated	1957^[1]
Deactivated	1976
Foundation	dressed stone
Construction	brick
Tower shape	conical^[2]
Markings / pattern	white^[2]
Height	65 feet (20 m)^[1]
Focal height	78 feet (24 m)^[1]
Original lens	fourth order Fresnel lens^[1]
Range	14 nautical miles; 26 kilometres (16 mi)^[1]
USCG number

Poverty Island Light Station
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Area	171.2 acres (69.3 ha)
MPS	Light Stations of the United States MPS
NRHP Reference #	05000984^[3]
Added to NRHP	September 6, 2005

The Poverty Island Light is a light house located on Poverty Island in northwestern Lake Michigan, 5.8 miles (9.3 km) south of Garden Peninsula. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005 as the Poverty Island Light Station.^[3]

History

In 1864, the railroad connection between Escanaba and Negaunee was completed, allowing iron ore to be easily transported to the southern shore of the Upper Peninsula.^[1] Shipping traffic into Escanaba immediately increased, which also increased the traffic through the relatively narrow Poverty Island Passage near the southern shore of Poverty island. The Poverty Island Passage was hazardous to traverse after dark, so in 1867 the Lighthouse Board requested funds to build a lighthouse on the southern tip of Poverty Island. However, Congress did not appropriate funds, some $18,000, until 1873.^[1]

Work on the light began the same year; however a late season fire destroyed some of the building material stored near the partially completed lighthouse.^[1] Work continued in 1874, but the tower was only partially completed before funds ran out. A temporary light was installed. After an additional $3,000 was appropriated, the light station was completed in 1875. The permanent light, with its fourth order Fresnel lens, was finally lit on August 10, 1875.^[1]

In 1885, a fog signal station was constructed nearby.^[1] In 1894, an iron oil house and docks were constructed. The light was automated in 1957^[1] and the buildings abandoned.^[4] The light was deactivated in 1976 after another light was installed in a skeletal steel tower nearby. The cast iron lantern was removed from the tower and discarded nearby along with other lighthouse equipment.^[4] In the 1980s the lantern was rescued by the Delta County Historical Society, who used it to refurbish the Sand Point Light in Escanaba.^[1] The lighthouse remains abandoned, and in 2011 was declared by Lighthouse Digest to be "America’s Most Endangered Lighthouse."^[4]

Description

The Poverty Island Light was designed to be a near duplicate of the Sturgeon Point Light.^[1] The tower is 70 feet (21 m) high, with the light installed in a cast iron lantern at 65 feet (20 m) above the ground.^[1] A wood frame and brick keeper's quarters is attached.^[2]

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "Poverty Island Lighthouse". Seeing The Light. Retrieved April 9, 2012.
1 2 3 "Poverty Island Light". Narional Park Service Inventory of Historic Light Stations: Michigan Lighthouses. Retrieved April 9, 2012.
1 2 National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
1 2 3 Timothy Harrison (September–October 2011), "America's Most Endangered Lighthouse", Lighthouse Digest

Lighthouses in Michigan

Northern Upper Peninsula	Au Sable Big Bay Point Copper Harbor Copper Harbor Front Range Crisp Point Eagle Harbor Eagle Harbor Range Lights Eagle River Fourteen Mile Point Grand Island East Channel Grand Island Harbor Rear Range Grand Island North Grand Marais Range Lights Granite Island Gull Rock Huron Island Isle Royale Manitou Island Marquette Breakwater Outer Marquette Harbor Mendota (Bete Grise) Munising Front Range Munising Rear Range Ontonagon Ontonagon Harbor West Breakwater Portage River (Jacobsville) Passage Island Rock Harbor Rock of Ages Sand Hills Sand Point Light (Baraga) St. Martin Island Stannard Rock Thunder Bay Island Whitefish Point

Southern Upper Peninsula	DeTour Reef Lansing Shoals Manistique East Breakwater Martin Reef Menominee Pier Minneapolis Shoal Naubinway Island Peninsula Point Poverty Island Sand Point Seul Choix Squaw Island St. Martin Island

St. Mary's River	Frying Pan Island Pipe Island Point Iroquois Round Island Light (St. Mary's River) Six Mile Point Range Rear Winter Point Range Front

Portage River/Ship Canal	Keweenaw Waterway Lower Entrance Keweenaw Waterway Upper Entrance Portage Lake Rouleau Point Range Front and Rear Lights

Straits of Mackinac	Bois Blanc McGulpin Point Old Mackinac Point Round Island Round Island Passage St. Helena Island

Western Lower Peninsula	Beaver Island Harbor Beaver Island Head Big Sable Point Cedar River Charlevoix Charlevoix South Pier Frankfort Frankfort South Range Grand Haven North Pierhead Grand Haven South Pierhead Entrance Grand Haven South Pierhead Inner Grand Traverse Grays Reef Holland Harbor Ile Aux Galets Little Sable Point Little Traverse Ludington Manistee Pierhead Manning Memorial Mission Point Mission Point (1933) Muskegon Breakwater Muskegon Pier North Manitou Shoal Pentwater North Pierhead Pentwater South Pierhead Point Betsie Portage Lake South Fox Island South Haven South Manitou Island St. Joseph North Pier Inner St. Joseph North Pier Outer South Manitou Island Waugoshance White River White Shoal

Eastern Lower Peninsula	Alpena Caseville Harbor Charity Island Cheboygan Crib Cheboygan River Front Range DeTour Reef Detroit River Fort Gratiot Forty Mile Point Fourteen Foot Shoal Gibraltar Gravelly Shoal Harbor Beach Lake St. Clair Mariners Memorial Middle Island Miller Memorial New Presque Isle Old Presque Isle Peche Island Rear Range Poe Reef Pointe aux Barques Port Austin Port Sanilac Saginaw Bay Saginaw River Rear Range Spectacle Reef St. Clair Flats Front and Rear Range Light Sturgeon Point Tawas Point Thunder Bay Island Tri-Centennial Light of Detroit William Livingstone Memorial Windmill Point

Historical (lost) lights	Au Sable North Pierhead Belle Isle Clinton River Ecorse Ecorse Range Rear Gibraltar Grassy Island Grassy Island North Channel Range Lights Grassy Island South Channel Range Lights Grosse Ile North Channel Range Lights Grosse Ile South Channel Range Lights Harwood Point East Range Front Kalamazoo River Mama Juda Mama Juda Range Front Manistee Main Middle Lake George Monroe Pier New Buffalo North Manitou Island Saginaw Bay Sand Beach North Entrance East Squaw Point St. Mary's River Lower Range Front Vidal Shoals Channel Range Front and Rear Lights Windmill Point Range Front and Rear Lights

Related	Lightship Huron List of lifesaving stations in Michigan

U.S. National Register of Historic Places

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