Sand Point Lighthouse

History of the Sand Point Lighthouse

This picture was contributed by Dennis Kent. He did a great job telling me about the history of this light that I decided to put the content of his e-mail here:

Near Escanaba, Michigan in the Upper Peninsula, Sand Point was built in 1867 at a cost of $11,000. Few roads existed on land at the time and all commerce went by way of the water. Escanaba was a major port shipping out lumber and fish for Chicago markets. Even railroads didn't come this far yet. This fourth order Fresnel was briefly extinguished because of a fire in 1886. The fire took the life of the keeper, Mary Terry. Her husband originally had the appointment but died before he could accept it. Mary took the job instead and did it for eighteen until the fire ended her appointment.

Nine keepers attended to their duties at this light until 1939 when the Coast Guard built a crib light off shore. The shore line had changed so much that the Sand Point Light was no longer where it needed to be. The Delta County Historical Society has done a wonderful job restoring the lighthouse to its 1867 condition before the fire. The original plans were already in their Archives. It is decorated with antiques to appear as it did after the 1886 fire. - Dennis

The only other neat thing that I found that Dennis didn't put in his e-mail is that when the lighthouse was built, it was built backwards. The tower faces the town instead of the water.

Directions: From US-2/US-41Escanaba, head east on Ludington Street. Follow this to the end and the lighthouse will be directly in front of you.

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