Eagle Harbor Light

Eagle Harbor, Michigan, USA

Lake Superior

    
     

Eagle Harbor Light was built in 1849 and reconstructed in 1871. Although recommended by the Lighthouse Board in 1890, a fog signal was not added until 1895. First lit by Winslow Lewis lamps and reflectors, in 1857 Eagle Harbor received a Fourth Order Fresnel lens made by Sautter of Paris. That lens was replaced by the modern airport-style beacon you see here, showing its charactristic red flash. The focal plane is 60 feet above lake level.

One of my personal favorites, this beautiful lighthouse with its 44-foot, octagonal brick tower, is now a museum. It has been operated since 1982 by the Keweenaw County Historical Society. You can visit it when you are traveling in the Keweenaw vicinity.
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Lake Side View

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Front View
     

This is an original water-color painting of Eagle Harbor Light. I painted this lighthouse during my college years at Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan. Often, I visited the shores of nearby Lake Superior when I wanted to experience first-hand the majesty of God's creation.

  
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Painting

Historical Chronology

1849 Congress appropriated $4,000
1851 Lighthouse went into operation with Lewis lamps and reflectors.
1857 Fourth Order Fresnel lens installed.
1870 Congress appropriated $14,000 for new lighthouse.
1871 Present brick lighthouse, with 44' high octagonal brick tower, went into operation. The focal plane is 60' above the mean low water level of Lake Superior.
1895 Fog signal installed.
1929 Radio beacon installed.
1930s Light electrified.
1968 Original Fresnel lens replaced by white and red aviation beacon lights.
1980 After a succession of 21 lighthouse keepers, light automated.
1982 Keweenaw County Historical Society opened lightkeeper's house and grounds as a museum.

Thanks to the Keweenaw County Historical Society for the information in the 'Historical Chronology' section. Originally published in a society brochure entitled '10 Lights – The Lighthouses of the Keweenaw Peninsula.'