Restoration of Copper Harbor Lighthouse, Michigan
Established in 1848 and standing on the Keweenaw Peuninsula on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Copper Harbor Lighthouse once guided shipping traffic in Lake Superior to safe harbor. Today the lighthouse site, including the 1848 keepers’ quarters and the 1866 tower, are part of the Fort Wilkins Historic Site, owned by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
“For several years we had been monitoring brick and mortar issues within the fort and a brick spalling issue at the Copper Harbor Lighthouse,” said Fort Wilkins Historic State Park manager Bob Wild. “In addition to the lighthouse, the 1848 lighthouse keeper’s dwelling had some structural issues. It is the original keeper’s dwelling – arguably the oldest lighthouse related structure on Lake Superior,” Wild said.
Restoration work began on the Copper Harbor Lighthouse and 1848 keeper’s residence in September 2019 and lasted eight weeks. National Restoration Inc., of Milford, which has worked on several Michigan lighthouses, including Fort Gratiot and the Old Mackinac Point lighthouses, was the contractor that completed the work with the DNR.
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Bete Gris (Mendota) Lighthouse (MI) is for sale
The privately owned Bete Gris Lighthouse, also known as the Mendota Lighthouse, is for sale. It’s located on Bete Gris Bay in the Keweenaw Peninsula, on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The asking price is $495,000.
The lighthouse was built in 1895 and decommissioned in 1933. The keeper’s quarters has over 1600 square feet of living space and three spacious bedrooms.
Read More: Anyone Want To Buy A Lighthouse?
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Akaroa Lighthouse (New Zealand) gets heritage grant
Akaroa is a small town on Banks Peninsula in the Canterbury region of the South Island of New Zealand, situated in a harbor of the same name. A heritage incentive grant of $4872 has been given to the Akaroa Lighthouse Preservation Society, a registered charity, so visitors can view the original machinery inside the Akaroa Lighthouse, built in 1878. The funding makes up half of the $9744 cost of the planned work.
It is New Zealand’s only operating decommissioned lighthouse. The lighthouse is run by community volunteers and relies on grants and donations to stay open. The work will improve access to the original lighthouse’s machinery, including the winding and clockwork mechanism that rotates the lens and prisms.
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‘The Lightkeeper’ sculpture enhances Port Clinton Lighthouse
A new sculpture by Port Clinton artist Andy Sacksteder enhances New York’s Port Clinton Lighthouse this summer, with “The Lightkeeper” portraying a lighthouse keeper leaving his post at the lighthouse after a long night’s vigil, his trusty dog in tow. The sculpture is adjacent to the lighthouse, and will remain on loan to the City of Port Clinton in Waterworks Park until fall.
Click here to see a photo of the sculpture in the park
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Maintenance at Cape Byron Lighthouse, Australia
U.S. Lighthouse Society photo
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) is currently undertaking some routine maintenance on the Cape Byron Lighthouse, at the easternmost point of Australia. The project will include repainting the inside of the lantern room and cleaning the mercury bath on which the lens rotates. Mercury baths are still in use at a number of the lighthouses managed by AMSA and are carefully maintained to ensure their continued safe operation.
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U.S. Lighthouse Society News is produced by the U.S. Lighthouse Society to support lighthouse preservation, history, education and research.
If you have items of interest to the lighthouse community and its supporters, please email them to Jeremy at Jeremy@uslhs.org
Jeremy D’Entremont is the author of more than 20 books and hundreds of articles on lighthouses and maritime history. He is the president and historian for the American Lighthouse Foundation and founder of Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouses, and he has lectured and narrated cruises throughout the Northeast and in other regions. He is also the producer and host of the U.S. Lighthouse Society podcast, “Light Hearted.” He can be emailed at Jeremy@uslhs.org