The contractors protested, but to no avail. Repudiating his instructions, they ordered builders to go back and put the lighthouse on Long Island … at the builders’ expense. Abraham Smolk had no business changing the plans, his superiors thundered. Dangerous shoals lay north of Michigan Island, but the low tower at the island’s south end gave seamen no warning of the shoals’ proximity. Just about immediately, everyone realized it was in the wrong place. Construction finished in October 1856, and the lighthouse entered service the following June. The contractor protested – erecting a tower on the Michigan Island clifftop would be far more costly than on Long Island’s flat sand.īut Smolk held firm, and the Apostles’ first lighthouse went up on Michigan Island: a small stone tower, with keeper’s dwelling attached. Smolk arrived at La Pointe, took a quick look around and impulsively decided the best to place for the new lighthouse was Michigan Island, 17 miles north of the specified site. Much better, everyone agreed, to put the light across the channel on Long Island, where it would be visible well out on the open lake.Įveryone agreed, that is, except Abraham Smolk, the mid-level Lighthouse Service official supervising regional construction. Such a light would not be visible until ships were right in front of it, well past all surrounding hazards. The port was on the landward side of Madeline Island so it would not make much sense to put the light at the harbor entrance. Quite a bit of discussion went into deciding exactly where to put the beacon. The only town of any size on the lake’s western end, the old fur post was a natural destination. Among the highest priorities for a beacon was the La Pointe harbor on Madeline Island. Marie locks opened in 1855, authorities realized that increased shipping would need navigational lights. The story of these lighthouses mirrors the development of commerce on Lake Superior. The keepers and their families are gone now, replaced by solar panels and automatic bulb-changers, but visitors can tour their dwellings and climb the towers, preserved today within a national park. Ross Holland doesn’t mince words about the treasures on Wisconsin’s Apostle Islands – six Lake Superior island outposts, with eight towers between them, in one of the world’s most beautiful settings.Įach is unique: the elegant brick tower on Outer Island’s bluffs, the tall cast-iron cylinder atop the Devils Island sea caves, a stately mansion on Raspberry, two towers each on Long and Michigan islands, and a brownstone gem on Sand Island.įor more than a century, these light stations were home to men and women who endured the privations of island life to provide mariners with reliable beacons to guide them on the waters of Lake Superior. “The largest and finest collection of lighthouses in the United States.” This story is part of our series on Lake Superior lighthouses. The elegant structure created from materials quarried on-site makes the Sand Island lighthouse a beauty.
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