The ruined lighthouse at Waugoshance protects boats from a shoal area at the northern end of Lake Michigan. The lighthouse is located in Emmet County, Michigan, United States, and in U.S. Coast Guard District No. 9. It is approximately west of Mackinaw City. Due to erosion and deterioration, the lighthouse is deteriorating and critically endangered, and likely to fall into the lake in the near future.
Reason for lighthouse
Boats from Chicago heading North (and ultimately) East need to navigate the narrow tip of northern Lake Michigan, and there are many dangers. The area around Waugoshance Point is not only shallow, it is a large (in area) projection from the bottom of the lake. Boats large enough to safely travel in times of storm cannot approach the light closer than a few hundred yards.
Adding to the complication of navigation in this area is the White Shoal, located just north of Waugoshance. This area is currently protected by White Shoal Light—built in 1910, nearby, powerful and larger—and Grays Reef Light which rendered this lighthouse obsolete.
During the last half of the nineteenth century, this light marked the turning point for ships traveling through the Straits of Mackinac and along Lake Michigan's eastern shore between the mainland and the Beavers. With a depth of less than deep, it was one of the most dangerous parts of the Straits. Thereafter, a "Gray's Reef passage" became more typical because modern freighters require considerably more depth, so Waugoshance is bypassed about to the west.
History
In 1832 the first lightvessel on the Great Lakes was placed here. That wooden lightship was the Lois McLain. In 1851 she was replaced by the Waugoshance Light, which stands in the area of the Wilderness State Park, and which remains one of the most hazardous areas near the Straits of Mackinac, Michigan. The last light vessel on the Great Lakes was the Lightship Huron.
The lighthouse at Waugoshance was arguably the first light built in the Great Lakes that was totally surrounded by water. Both its construction and its continued maintenance were rendered extremely hazardous by the severe weather conditions of the area. Waugoshance is at the northern end of the long fetch of "south-wester" waves on Lake Michigan; the wave action is amplified as they build upon the shoal.
The imposing crib structure was a first on the Great Lakes. The pier was reconstructed in 1870—a massive undertaking that was hampered by the ironic fact that the viable 'building season' is far shorter than even the normal operating season for the light—and used a "bird cage" lantern, which makes it one of only three built on the Great Lakes. The lantern originally held the first fourth order Fresnel lens on the Great Lakes.
Although the light is now gray in color, it was originally painted in four broad horizontal Red and white stripes as a Daymark. Its walls were encased in steel, and are 5½ feet thick at the bottom. The Waugoshance Light operated from 1851 until its deactivation in 1912, when it remained the property of the U.S. federal government. The encasement was similar to Big Sable Point Light, which was made from Cream City Brick, and also had to be encased in steel boilerplate to retard the deterioration.
Of particular note were the efforts of Lighthouse keepers who rang bells for many days, trying to ward mariners and their vessels off the shoal as they groped through the smoke from the many fires — 1871 Great Chicago Fire, Peshtigo Fire, Northern Michigan including large tracts around Manistee, Michigan, Western Michigan around Holland and the fire in the Thumb near Port Huron—that took place beginning October 8, 1871, casting an impenetrable pall across Lake Michigan for the better part of a week. However, many vessels were lost.
During World War II, the abandoned light was used by the U.S. Navy for bombing practice. The Lighthouse keeper's house and all of the wood framing in the lighthouse burned. The metal shell has fallen away. Today, the lighthouse "is considered one of the most endangered lighthouses in the world." It has been said that, ". . . . it is amazing that anything remains."
The light was the object of a thirty year long struggle to save it. The nonprofit Waugoschance Lighthouse Preservation Society was formed by Chris West, and they bought it from the Coast Guard. They performed intermittent repairs. However, given the deterioration during 2019 and 2020, due to rising water levels, the organization has given up. The structure has been given back to the Coast Guard. While the fans have now transmuted and formed an admiration society, they asked to remove and preserve the unique 'birdcage' cap. That request was denied.