Whitefish Point Light

Whitefish Point Light
Whitefish Point Light in July 2018
Map
LocationWhitefish Point
Whitefish Township, Michigan
Coordinates46°46′14″N 84°57′24″W / 46.77056°N 84.95667°W / 46.77056; -84.95667
Tower
FoundationPier
ConstructionSteel
Automated1971
Height76 feet (23 m)[2][3][4]
ShapeLattice Tower[7]
HeritageNational Register of Historic Places listed place, Michigan state historic site Edit this on Wikidata
RaconO Edit this on Wikidata
Light
First lit1849[1]
Focal height80 feet (24 m)[5]
Lens3rd order Fresnel Lens[8] (original), Light-emitting diode (LED) lantern[6] (current)
IntensityRACON: O (– – –). Standby light of reduced intensity.[3]
Range15 nautical miles (28 km; 17 mi)[6]
CharacteristicFl(2) W 20s Edit this on Wikidata
Whitefish Point Light
NRHP reference No.73000947[9]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPFebruary 28, 1973
Designated MSHSFebruary 22, 1974[10]

The Whitefish Point Light is a lighthouse located in Chippewa County in the U.S. state of Michigan.[11] Located on the southeastern shores of Lake Superior, it sits at the edge of Whitefish Point leading to Whitefish Bay. Constructed in 1849, it is the oldest operating lighthouse in the Upper Peninsula. All vessels entering or exiting Lake Superior pass near Whitefish Point. The area is infamously known as the "Graveyard of the Great Lakes" due to the high number of shipwrecks in the area, most famously the SS Edmund Fitzgerald.[12]

The lighthouse is part of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum complex, which contains numerous relics from shipwrecks of the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve, including the bell of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald. The lighthouse itself was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and again as a Michigan State Historic Site in 1974.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference life1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ National Park Service Maritime Heritage, Inventory of Historic Lights, Whitefish Point Light.
  3. ^ a b Light List, Volume VII, Great Lakes (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard.
  4. ^ Pepper, Terry. "Database of Tower Heights". Seeing the Light. terrypepper.com.
  5. ^ Pepper, Terry. "Database of Focal Heights". Seeing the Light. terrypepper.com.
  6. ^ a b "2011 Archives Imn09232011.pdf - Imn09332011.pdf". Local Notice to Mariners. U.S. Department of Homeland Security/U.S. Coast Guard. Retrieved February 7, 2012.
  7. ^ Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light, "Lighthouse Tower Designs," at terrypepper.com.
  8. ^ Pepper, Terry. "Database of Original Lenses". Seeing the Light. terrypepper.com.
  9. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009. Archived from the original on July 25, 2008. Retrieved August 3, 2010.
  10. ^ State of Michigan (2009). "Whitefish Point Light". Archived from the original on May 11, 2012. Retrieved June 26, 2010.
  11. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Whitefish Point Lighthouse Historical Marker
  12. ^ Exploring The North: Whitefish Point Lighthouse and Museum