Big Bay Lighthouse

While looking for a vacation rental in the Upper Peninsula Michigan, I came across a lighthouse with an interesting history. Big Bay Lighthouse is beautiful, and the view of Lake Superior is breathtaking. Though I never got to visit, I hope someday to make the trip up to this stunning lighthouse.

 

In 1882, the U.S. Lighthouse Board recommended a new lighthouse be built on Lake Superior between Granite Island Lighthouse and Huron Island Lighthouse, located on the northwest side of the Upper Peninsula in Michigan about 25 miles north of Marquette. The recommendation was made due to the high number of shipwrecked vessels in the vicinity and also the distance between the existing stations.

The eighteen-room lighthouse at Big Bay Point, Michigan was finished and put into operation in 1896. The solid brick station is located high on a bluff overlooking Lake Superior. The station has sent out its beacon of light to keep passing ships safe for over a hundred years.

Lighthouse keepers stationed at the lighthouse have had somewhat of a tragic history. Especially the first Head Keeper at Big Bay Point. H. William Prior, arrived with his family approximately ten p.m. on August fifteenth, 1896. His time of service was plagued by hardship and tragedy. Much if what happened to him and his family is recorded in Head Keeper Prior’s meticulous records.

The first sign of trouble came when newly assigned Assistant Keeper Heater left the lighthouse to travel to the nearby town of Marquette due to the sudden death of his sister. After his return, Assistant Heater became lax in his duties and per the Head Keeper’s records, “he is so much under the control of his wife he has not the heart to do anything”. I wonder if the man suffered from depression after his sister’s death. Regardless, March seventh, 1898 Assistant Keeper Heater was transferred to Granite Island Lighthouse much to the delight of Head Keeper Prior.

Prior journaled about a series of irresponsible assistants, and ultimately, H. William Prior appointed his son, George E. Prior, to the position of assistant keeper. George took the oath of assistant keeper on January eighteenth, 1900, but tragically only a few months later on April sixteenth, 1901, George fell down the steep narrow steps of the tower. His injuries were extensive and required a lengthy stay at a hospital in Marquette. Tragically, July 1901, George E. Prior died from septicemia due to a compound fracture of his femur.

Head keeper Prior was devastated by his son’s death and on June twenty-eighth, Head Keeper Prior’s misery apparently became unbearable. He was last seen walking into the woods with a gun and cyanide poison. I don’t understand why whoever saw him with these things didn’t stop him, but. Nonetheless, he was never seen alive again. A year and half later a hunter came across the skeletal remains of a man hanging from a tree. The remains were dressed in the clothing of the former keeper of Big Bay Point Lighthouse station. Such a sad ending.

The lighthouse itself went on to serve the area well, and without signifying happenings, until 1941, when under the authority of the U.S. Coast Guard, the lighthouse was automated, and the last light keeper was reassigned.

Then in 1951 & 1952, the US Army leased the buildings and land. National Guard and Army regulars were stationed at the lighthouse and would camp out in the fields surrounding the station for two-week periods of anti-aircraft artillery training. On the cliffs, east of the lighthouse, large guns were installed. Aircraft was towed out on the lake to serve as targets. Imagine the sound of the guns as they fired over Lake Superior.
 

The lighthouse had one more tragic story. In 1952, a soldier stationed at the lighthouse committed a murder. In a jealous rage, the man went to Lumberjack Tavern in Big Bay where he committed the killing. The movie "Anatomy of a Murder," was based on this unfortunate incident.

After being abandoned for six years, the lighthouse sold in 1961 to a plastic surgeon from Chicago. He refurbished the station and dearly loved the home until he sold it in 1979, at which time, Big Bay Lighthouse became a bed and breakfast. Today, it is the only bed and breakfast with a working lighthouse in the United States. The lighthouse is reported to be haunted.

Have you ever stayed anywhere with a history if being haunted? I’d love to hear about tit in the comments below.

Thank you for joining us at Heroes, Heroines, and History today.

Michele 

 

Multi award-winning author, Michele K. Morris’s love for historical fiction began when she first read Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House book series. She grew up riding horses and spending her free time in the woods of mid-Michigan. Married to her high school sweetheart, they are living happily-ever-after with their six children, three in-loves, and ten grandchildren in Florida, the sunshine state. Michele loves to hear from readers on Facebook, Twitter, and here through the group blog, Heroes, Heroines, and History at HHHistory.com.

Michele is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency.

McGulpin Point Lighthouse - A Beacon for the Straits of Mackinac

When John McAlpine, a British soldier who served at Fort Michilimackinac, retired from his military career in 1774, he was allotted 640 acres of land a couple of miles west of the fort along the Straits of Mackinac. This land passed onto his son, Patrick, in 1802 who Anglicized the name to McGulpin, but was officially deeded to him in 1811. His son, George, and his Native-American wife settled there. The area became known as McGulpin Point.

In 1851, the Waugoshance Lighthouse guarded the western entrance to the straits in Lake Michigan and the Bois Blanc Island Lighthouse guarded the east, in Lake Huron, but there was nothing central. Traffic had steadily increased since the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825. In the mid-1850s, the Lighthouse Board wrote of the necessity for a lighthouse at the narrowest point of the straits. 

McGulpin Point Lighthouse, probably circa 1930s (Notice the
cap of the light tower has been removed.) {PD} http://www.uscg.mil/history/weblighthouses/LHMI.asp

Congress appropriated funds for the lighthouse to be built, but until a clear title could be obtained for the land construction was delayed. The appropriations expired and Congress was once again petitioned for funds in 1864. Funds were appropriated a second time, this time for $20,000. The light station was constructed in what many describe as a Norman-Gothic style in Cream City brick. It opened for service in 1869.

The lighthouse keeper’s quarters were contained in a 1 1/2 story house connected to the light tower. The floor plan included a parlor, kitchen and two bedrooms on the main floor. Two bedrooms spanned the upper half story with the addition of a large closet. The tower was set diagonally at one corner and the light at the top consisted of a Third-and-a-half Order Fresnel lens which shone steadily. The same design was used for building several other Great Lakes lighthouses.

The head keepers throughout the years of McGulpin Point’s service were as follows: Charles Louisingnau, 1869-1875; Thomas P. Dunn, 1875-1879; Gabrieal Bourissau, 1879; and James Davenport, 1879-1906. 

Davenport, who notably served last and longest is probably the best-remembered keeper. He faithfully sent weekly reports of the conditions of the Straits of Mackinac, to the District Inspector in Milwaukee. Although he moved his family to town in Mackinaw City during the off-season, so his children could more easily attend school, Davenport trudged through harsh snowy weather in the winter to check conditions on the iced-over straits and make his report each week. 

Exemplary in his dependability, Davenport only missed one week in March of 1891. His only reason was recorded in these sad words: “Sir, I just was up in the Lt House and found all in good order. You will see by this report that I did not report to you last week. My wife and child died last week and I could not go up to the light house to report to you as required.”

Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse is also an example of "Cream City"
brick, a cream or light yellow-colored brick made from
clay dug from nearby the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
James Marvin Phelps, 2006, [CC]

One of the more memorable events during Davenport’s tenure was when the 

captain of the Waldo A. Avery steered his burning ship towards shore near the McGulpin Point Lighthouse in 1893. At the time, Davenport had gone into Mackinaw City, leaving his nine children behind. They must have learned much as children of the keeper since they made preparations on their own to care for the survivors!

When apprised of what was going on at the lighthouse, Davenport rushed back with several Mackinaw City residents in tow. They were able to get out to the beached vessel in a small skiff and make several trips to bring all seventeen crew members safely ashore. 

Once the Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse and its fog signal had been constructed in 1892, and was more visible along the straits, the Lighthouse Board believed the McGulpin Point station was no longer needed. Still, the lighthouse was in service until November 12, 1906. The Fresnel lens was removed and temporarily stored at Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse.

James Davenport was transferred to Old Mission Point and remained there until his retirement in 1917. He then returned to Mackinaw City where he lived until his death at age 85 in 1932. 

In 1913, the lighthouse was auctioned off and became privately owned. It was being used as a private residence into the 21st century. In 2008, the Emmet County commissioners bought the old McGulpin Point Lighthouse. Since then it’s undergone much restoration. There are displays and a gift shop. You can climb the stairs of the restored tower to enter the new tower cap and see the replacement Fresnel lens and the beautiful view. And don’t forget to take the discovery trail down below where you can learn more about the history of the property.

McGulpin Point Lighthouse may no longer be a beacon guiding ships on the Straits of Mackinac, but it is a beacon of the past for history lovers. Have you ever thought what it would be like to live in a lighthouse? What is your favorite lighthouse? I’d love to know! Please share in the comments below.

The restored McGulpin Point Lighthouse, [CC],
Wikimedia Commons

Kathleen Rouser is the award-winning author of Rumors and Promises, her first novel about the people of fictional Stone Creek, Michigan, and its sequel, Secrets and Wishes. Kathleen wanted to be a writer before she could even read. She lives in Michigan with her hero and husband, Jack, and the sassy tailless cat who found a home in their empty nest. Connect with Kathleen on her website at kathleenrouser.com, on Twitter @KathleenRouser. and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/kathleenerouser/.