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Charity Island Light is a lighthouse in Lake Huron just off the coast of Au Gres, Northern Michigan. In 1838, the region was the source of a large amount of lumber being removed from Lower Michigan via the rivers that enter the lower end of Saginaw Bay. The shoals around Charity Island were a major source of problems, and a considerable quantity of lumber didn't make it to its intended destination of New York. It was not until 1856, however, that funds were allocated to establish a light on the island.
The octagonal cast iron lantern displayed a fixed white Fourth Order Fresnel lens light which was constructed in 1857 with a 39-foot tower which provided a 13-mile range of visibility. The Lighthouse Board was in the process of constructing a set of lights up and down the coast, and 13 miles was considered adequate both to keep boats off the island and to navigate from one light to the next.
The light has been abandoned since 1939 when Gravelly Shoal was lit, and it is rapidly falling apart. The Charity Island Preservation Committee of the Arenac County Historical Society is restoring the tower. The original keeper's house has been razed, and a new private residence has been built in its place.
Phyllis Tag of Great Lakes Lighthouse Research has documented the full list of keepers of the light.
It is hard to get close enough to this light to see it. Lake Huron is quite shallow and rocky, and the light is too far out to see from shore. Getting a boat near it requires either oars or considerable care.
See also
Notes
- Beacons in the Night, Michigan Lighthouse Chronology, Clarke Historical Library, Central, Michigan University.
- Terry Pepper on Charity Island Light.
- Charity Island Preservation Committee.
- Phyllis Tag, list of lighthouse keepers.
Bibliography and further reading
- Bibliography on Michigan lighthouses.
- Penrod, John, Lighthouses of Michigan, (Berrien Center, Michigan: Penrod/Hiawatha, 1998) ISBN 9780942618785 ISBN 9781893624238.
- Wagner, John L., Michigan Lighthouses: An Aerial Photographic Perspective, (East Lansing, Michigan: John L. Wagner, 1998) ISBN 1880311011 ISBN 9781880311011.
- Wright, Larry and Wright, Patricia, Great Lakes Lighthouses Encyclopedia Hardback (Erin: Boston Mills Press, 2006) ISBN 1550463993.
External links
- Extensive history of the Charity Island Lighthouse at Seeing the Light by Terry Pepper.
- Interactive map of lighthouses in area.
- Lighthouse Central - Lighthouse Photographs, History, Directions and Way points for this Lighthouse
- National Park System Inventory Historic Lighthouses, Charity Island Light.
- Michigan.gov website has a Map of Michigan Lighthouses.
- US Coast Guard's complete list and summary of Michigan lights, including information and photographs of Charity Island light.
- Description Charity Island Light at www.lighthousefriends.com
- Michigan Lighthouse project, Charity Island light.
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