Grand Traverse Lighthouse

History of the Grand Traverse Lighthouse

Dennis, a regular contributor to this site, provided some of the lighthouse's colorful history:

Here's another for you Brian, The Grand Traverse Light is park of the Leelanau State Park and nearby campers can picnic on what used to be the garden for the lighthouse keepers and their families. The lighthouse museum and grounds are tended to by the Grand Traverse Lighthouse Foundation. This light marks the Manitou shipping passage on Lake Michigan and the entrance to Grand Traverse Bay. It was built by the US Lighthouse Service in 1858. The fog signal building was built in 1899. Like many lighthouses it was converted to a two family home in 1900 and 16 years later the kitchen was added. 1952 was the year it was modernized and electricity added to the porch wings. An automatic light tower was built nearby and the lighthouse closed in 1972. This one is about 30 miles from my house so I go in different times of the year for pictures. Dennis Kent

Directions: From the Town of Northport, head north on SR-201 to West 6th Street and then onto Bayshore Drive (SR-629). We then continued on SR-629 to the end and the Grand Traverse Lighthouse.

View more Grand Traverse Lighthouse pictures