Spectacle Reef Light

Spectacle Reef Light
U.S. Coast Guard Archive
Map
LocationCheboygan County, Michigan, Lake Huron
Coordinates45°46′24″N 84°8′12″W / 45.77333°N 84.13667°W / 45.77333; -84.13667
Tower
Constructed1874
Foundationcofferdam/timber exposed crib[5]
ConstructionMonolithic limestone/iron bolts
Automated1972
Height80 feet (24 m)[1]
ShapeFrustum of a cone on a rectangular house
Markingsnatural with red roofs
HeritageNational Register of Historic Places listed place Edit this on Wikidata
Fog signalHORN: air–diaphone[4]
Light
First lit1874
Focal height86 feet (26 m)[2][3]
LensSecond-order Fresnel lens[6] (original), Solar powered 300 mm Tideland Signal acrylic lens (current)
Intensity400,000 candlepower white; 80,000 candlepower red
Range11 nautical miles (20 km; 13 mi)[4]
CharacteristicFlashing alternately white every 60 seconds, red every 5 seconds. Operates year round. 100 candlepower white winter light which flashes every 5 seconds
Spectacle Reef Light Station
Nearest cityBenton Township, Michigan
Area0.9 acres (0.36 ha)
Built1874
ArchitectUS Lighthouse Board: Colonel Orlando Metcalfe Poe, and Major Godfrey Weitzel
MPSU.S. Coast Guard Lighthouses and Light Stations on the Great Lakes TR
NRHP reference No.05000744[7]
Added to NRHPJuly 27, 2005

Spectacle Reef Light is a lighthouse 11 miles (18 km) east of the Straits of Mackinac and is located at the northern end of Lake Huron, Michigan.[8] It was designed and built by Colonel Orlando Metcalfe Poe and Major Godfrey Weitzel,[9] and was the most expensive lighthouse ever built on the Great Lakes.[10]

Because of the challenges of building on a shoal, including laying an underwater crib, it is said to be the "most spectacular engineering achievement" in lighthouse construction on Lake Huron.[10] It took four years to build because weather limited work to mostly the summer season. Workers lived in a structure at the site; one of the limiting conditions. It ranks high as an engineering achievement among all the lighthouses built on the Great lakes.[10]

In 2020, The Spectacle Reef Preservation Society was formed and began to restore the lighthouse.

  1. ^ Pepper, Terry. "Seeing The Light:Tower Heights". Retrieved 2008-11-01.
  2. ^ "Inventory of Historic Light Stations – Michigan Lighthouses: Spectacle Reef Light". National Park Service. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
  3. ^ Pepper, Terry. "Database of Focal Heights". Seeing the Light. terrypepper.com.
  4. ^ a b U.S. Coast Guard, 2007.
  5. ^ "Spectacle Reef Light". Michigan Lighthouse Fund. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
  6. ^ Pepper, Terry. "Database of Original Lenses". Seeing the Light. terrypepper.com.
  7. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  8. ^ Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Michigan's Eastern Lower Peninsula". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
  9. ^ Wobser, Dave. "Spectacle Reef Light". Lighthouse.Boatnerd.com. Archived from the original on 2006-02-17. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
  10. ^ a b c Hollan, Francis Ross (1988). America's Lighthouses: An illustrated History. Courier Dover Publications. p. 184. ISBN 978-0-486-25576-7. Retrieved June 10, 2009.