St. Martin Island Light

St. Martin Island Light

St. Martin Island Light USCG Archive
Location	St. Martin Island Lake Michigan
Coordinates	45°30′10″N 86°45′27″W / 45.50278°N 86.75750°W / 45.50278; -86.75750Coordinates: 45°30′10″N 86°45′27″W / 45.50278°N 86.75750°W / 45.50278; -86.75750
Year first constructed	1905
Year first lit	1905
Foundation	Granite[1]
Construction	Steel exoskeleton[1]
Markings / pattern	white with black lantern[1]
Height	75 ft (23 m)[2]
Focal height	81 feet (25 m)[3]
Original lens	occulting 4th Order Fresnel illuminated by a 24,000 candlepower incandescent oil vapor lamp. Rotating red and white flash panels.[4]
Current lens	7.5-inch (190 mm) Tideland Signal acrylic lens[5]
Range	18 nautical miles (33 km; 21 mi)[6]
Characteristic	Al W R 10s: W fl 5s ec.; R fl 5s ec. Light visible from 135° to 355°, dark sector covering island.[6]
ARLHS number	USA-802[7][8]
USCG number	7-21450
St. Martin Island Light Station
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Michigan State Historic Site
Nearest city	Fairport, Michigan
Area	2 acres (0.81 ha)
MPS	U.S. Coast Guard Lighthouses and Light Stations on the Great Lakes TR
NRHP Reference #	84001387[9]
Added to NRHP	July 19, 1984

St. Martin Island Light is an exoskeleton lighthouse that marks one of four passages between Lake Michigan and the bay of Green Bay.^[10] Constructed in 1905, this light tower is the only example in the US of a pure exoskeletal tower on the Great Lakes. Similar designs exist in Canada.^[11] Painted white, the hexagonal tower is made of iron plates which are supported by six exterior steel posts that have latticed buttresses.^[4][12]

The cream city brick lightkeeper's house was modeled after that used for the Plum Island Range Lights.^[4]

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 19, 1984, Reference #84001387 as St. Martin Light Station (U.S. Coast Guard/ Great Lakes TR). It is not on the state list/inventory.^[13] A steam fog signal was also installed.^[14] which was thereafter replaced by a diaphone.^[4]

The lighthouse keeper's dwelling has been abandoned and "is in poor condition."^[12]

The light station is closed to the public. It is managed by in partnership with the Little Traverse Bay Band of the Odawa Indian Nation.^[11][15]

References

External links

• Detroit News, Interactive map on Michigan lighthouses, which fails to list St. Martin Island Light.
• Interactive map of Lights in Northern Lake Michigan, mapped by Google.
• Map of Michigan Lighthouse in PDF Format.
• Map of lighthouses in western Lake Michigan.

Lighthouses in Michigan
Northern Upper Peninsula	Au Sable Big Bay Point Copper Harbor Copper Harbor Front Range Crisp Point Eagle Harbor Eagle Harbor Range Lights Eagle River Fourteen Mile Point Grand Island East Channel Grand Island Harbor Rear Range Grand Island North Grand Marais Range Lights Granite Island Gull Rock Huron Island Isle Royale Manitou Island Marquette Breakwater Outer Marquette Harbor Mendota (Bete Grise) Munising Front Range Munising Rear Range Ontonagon Ontonagon Harbor West Breakwater Portage River (Jacobsville) Passage Island Rock Harbor Rock of Ages Sand Hills Sand Point Light (Baraga) St. Martin Island Stannard Rock Thunder Bay Island Whitefish Point
Southern Upper Peninsula	DeTour Reef Lansing Shoals Manistique East Breakwater Martin Reef Menominee Pier Minneapolis Shoal Naubinway Island Peninsula Point Poverty Island Sand Point Seul Choix Squaw Island St. Martin Island
St. Mary's River	Frying Pan Island Pipe Island Point Iroquois Round Island Light (St. Mary's River) Six Mile Point Range Rear Winter Point Range Front
Portage River/Ship Canal	Keweenaw Waterway Lower Entrance Keweenaw Waterway Upper Entrance Portage Lake Rouleau Point Range Front and Rear Lights
Straits of Mackinac	Bois Blanc McGulpin Point Old Mackinac Point Round Island Round Island Passage St. Helena Island
Western Lower Peninsula	Beaver Island Harbor Beaver Island Head Big Sable Point Cedar River Charlevoix Charlevoix South Pier Frankfort Frankfort South Range Grand Haven North Pierhead Grand Haven South Pierhead Entrance Grand Haven South Pierhead Inner Grand Traverse Grays Reef Holland Harbor Ile Aux Galets Little Sable Point Little Traverse Ludington Manistee Pierhead Manning Memorial Mission Point Mission Point (1933) Muskegon Breakwater Muskegon Pier North Manitou Shoal Pentwater North Pierhead Pentwater South Pierhead Point Betsie Portage Lake South Fox Island South Haven South Manitou Island St. Joseph North Pier Inner St. Joseph North Pier Outer South Manitou Island Waugoshance White River White Shoal
Eastern Lower Peninsula	Alpena Caseville Harbor Charity Island Cheboygan Crib Cheboygan River Front Range DeTour Reef Detroit River Fort Gratiot Forty Mile Point Fourteen Foot Shoal Gibraltar Gravelly Shoal Harbor Beach Lake St. Clair Mariners Memorial Middle Island Miller Memorial New Presque Isle Old Presque Isle Peche Island Rear Range Poe Reef Pointe aux Barques Port Austin Port Sanilac Saginaw Bay Saginaw River Rear Range Spectacle Reef St. Clair Flats Front and Rear Range Light Sturgeon Point Tawas Point Thunder Bay Island Tri-Centennial Light of Detroit William Livingstone Memorial Windmill Point
Historical (lost) lights	Au Sable North Pierhead Belle Isle Clinton River Ecorse Ecorse Range Rear Gibraltar Grassy Island Grassy Island North Channel Range Lights Grassy Island South Channel Range Lights Grosse Ile North Channel Range Lights Grosse Ile South Channel Range Lights Harwood Point East Range Front Kalamazoo River Mama Juda Mama Juda Range Front Manistee Main Middle Lake George Monroe Pier New Buffalo North Manitou Island Saginaw Bay Sand Beach North Entrance East Squaw Point St. Mary's River Lower Range Front Vidal Shoals Channel Range Front and Rear Lights Windmill Point Range Front and Rear Lights
Related	Lightship Huron List of lifesaving stations in Michigan

National Register of Historic Places in Michigan
Lists by county	Alcona Alger Allegan Alpena Antrim Arenac Baraga Barry Bay Benzie Berrien Branch Calhoun Cass Charlevoix Cheboygan Chippewa Clare Clinton Crawford Delta Dickinson Eaton Emmet Genesee Gladwin Gogebic Grand Traverse Gratiot Hillsdale Houghton Huron Ingham Ionia Iosco Iron Isabella Jackson Kalamazoo Kalkaska Kent Keweenaw Lake Lapeer Leelanau Lenawee Livingston Luce Mackinac Macomb Manistee Marquette Mason Mecosta Menominee Midland Missaukee Monroe Montcalm Montmorency Muskegon Newaygo Oakland Oceana Ogemaw Ontonagon Osceola Oscoda Otsego Ottawa Presque Isle Roscommon Saginaw Sanilac Schoolcraft Shiawassee St. Clair St. Joseph Tuscola Van Buren Washtenaw Wayne (Detroit) Wexford
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