Ile Aux Galets Light

Ile Aux Galets
Skillagalee Island Light Station circa 1920.
Map
LocationSouthwest of Waugoshance Island, Lake Michigan
Coordinates45°40′35″N 85°10′23″W / 45.67639°N 85.17306°W / 45.67639; -85.17306
Tower
Constructed1888
FoundationStone
ConstructionBrick
Automated1969
Height58 feet (18 m)[1][2]
ShapeOctagonal hourglass
Markingswhite w/black lantern
HeritageNational Register of Historic Places listed place Edit this on Wikidata
Light
First lit1888
Focal height58 feet (18 m)[3]
LensFourth order Fresnel lens (original), 12-inch (300 mm) Tideland Signal ML-300 acrylic plastic lens (current)
Range11 nautical miles (20 km; 13 mi)
CharacteristicFl W 6 s[4]
Skillagalee Light Station
Nearest cityCross Village, Michigan
Area2 acres (0.81 ha)
MPSU.S. Coast Guard Lighthouses and Light Stations on the Great Lakes TR
NRHP reference No.84001389[5]
Added to NRHPJuly 19, 1984

Ile Aux Galets Light, also known as Skillagalee Island Light, is located on Ile Aux Galets (more commonly known as Skillagalee Island), a gravelly, low-lying island in northeast Lake Michigan, between Beaver Island and the mainland, approximately 7 miles (11 km) northwest of Cross Village in Emmet County, Michigan.[6] Along with nearby Grays Reef, Waugoshance, and White Shoal Lights, it warns shipping away from the reefs and shoals of Waugoshance Point,[7] which pose an imminent hazard to navigation.[8]

United States Lighthouse Board records initially used both names when referring to the lighthouse, but by 1889 Skillagalee started to be used exclusively. Around 1910, Ile Aux Galets started to be used again, and it is listed by that name on modern light lists published by the United States Coast Guard.[9]

  1. ^ Pepper, Terry. "Database of Tower Heights". Seeing the Light. terrypepper.com. Archived from the original on 2000-09-18.
  2. ^ Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy, Waugoshance Light.
  3. ^ Pepper, Terry. "Database of Focal Heights". Seeing the Light. terrypepper.com. Archived from the original on 2008-08-30.
  4. ^ Light List, Volume VII, Great Lakes (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard.
  5. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  6. ^ Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society, Ile aux Galets/Skillagalee Light, ARLHS USA-399.
  7. ^ Detroit News, Interactive map on Michigan lighthouses.
  8. ^ Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light, Skillagallee Island Light Station.
  9. ^ "Skillagalee Island (Ile Aux Galets), MI". Lighthousefriends.com. Retrieved September 16, 2015.