Fourteen Mile Point

Near Ontonagon, Michigan, USA

Lake Superior

Located 14 miles east of the Ontonagon River and originally built in 1894 at a cost of $20,000, Fourteen Mile Point was destroyed by fire on July 30, 1984. Some kids were partying there, built a fire inside the abandoned light, and it spread to engulf and eventually destroy the entire building. The roof and all of the wooden framing, interior walls, and flooring were destroyed. The location was far too remote for the fire to be fought. Only non-flammable materials like the brick exterior walls and the cast iron lantern room still stand.

Fourteen Mile Point featured a 55-foot tower containing a Fourth Order Fresnel lens, kerosene (later acetylene) light source, and clockwork mechanism. A separate fog signal building housed steam-powered signal with dual 10" horns supplemented with two 18" high brass whistles. An assistant keeper's house and boathouse were also built there. The station was manned until 1934. In 1938, it was declared surplus. On April 4, 1945, the light was extinguished forever.

After the light was decommissioned, the property was sold to a private party, who neglected it. The buildings gradually deteriorated until they were destroyed by fire.

How to Get to Fourteen Mile Point

This is one of the most difficult lights to get to, by land, in Michigan. It took me three attempts to do it, and after I finally succeeded, I documented my approach so that others could benefit from the information. The following story was published in the June, 1988 issue of the Beacon, the newsletter of the Great Lakes Lighthouse Keeper's Association.

GLLKA member Phil Block of Port Washington, Wisconsin visited the remote Fourteen Mile Point Lighthouse on July 4, 1987, and submitted the following report.

Taking advantage of a beautiful sunny day, a friend and I decided to hike the shoreline to reach the long abandoned Fourteen Mile Point Light. This lighthouse is located on a rocky point fourteen miles east of Ontonagon on the south shore of Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

This successful visit followed two previous unsuccessful attempts to reach this lighthouse by land. Those attempts included bushwhack hiking from the nearest road access point, and also another try using a mountain bike over what appeared on the map to be old logging trails. Lacking a large seaworthy boat, I was limited to those methods.

The easiest access to the lighthouse site is by water from the port village of Ontonagon. Lake Superior can be fickle, however, and the bottom is rocky and potentially dangerous over portions of the water route.

We left Ontonagon eastbound on Lakeshore Road, following this paved road to a point about a mile or so beyond where it turned to gravel. We parked our car on a sand road used by fishermen to access the Flintsteel River. A walk of 100 yards or so from the car took us to the shore of Lake Superior.

A 12 Mile Hike

The walk was six miles one way, and I would heartily recommend it to any lighthouse enthusiast capable of handling the necessary hike. The walking was quite easy in that over half of the distance to be covered consisted of flat rock which made it almost like walking on a paved surface. The remainder was sandy beach, but at the water's edge the hiking was easy to manage due to the firmness of the wet sand.

At a couple locations, we had to detour into the woods briefly to get around points that had sheer rock walls dropping to the lake's surface. There were also several fallen trees that we had to either stoop under or step over. It took us about two and one half hours each way to complete the hike.

Do not be deceived by any maps you may see that this lighthouse is accessible by road, even with a four wheel drive vehicle or ATV. The terrain inland from the light house is swampy and extremely overgrown. Numerous small rivers and streams run through the area, and some bridges on back roads have been out for years.

No Passable Road

What formerly were passable roads have long since gone back to nature. This was confirmed by discussions with knowledgeable local people, including a relative of my wife's who used to deliver fuel to customers in the vicinity of the lighthouse during the WW II era. Local folks go here (by land) only in winter using snowmobiles.

Owners of the book "The Northern Lights" may wish to look at the aerial photo of Fourteen Mile Point on page 182 before reading further. (The description of the light is on page 184) Today, the lighthouse itself is virtually in ruins. Although the author of "The Northern Lights" states that this lighthouse "burned down" due to fires set by vandals, the structure was constructed of red brick and masonry and all exterior and interior walls and the main light tower still stand. The lantern room is made of iron and still sits defiantly on top of its tower.

All windows and doors are gone, as are all interior floors, ceilings and woodwork. The entire roof of the lighthouse was consumed by the fire, and its remains sit as charcoal littering the basement floor of' the building. There is still some intricately designed quarry tile flooring in place in what's left of one room.

The tower was originally accessed by a wooden staircase up to about the level of the former second floor ceiling. That staircase burned, and the remains of the final top section of iron spiral staircase which led into the lantern room itself hang eerily down to a point about twenty feet above your head as you stand inside the brick light tower.

Assistant Keeper's House Standing

The wooden house behind the main building (and its ornate tin roof) escaped the ravages of the fire that destroyed all wooden parts of the main lighthouse. It is still in reasonably good shape, although all windows are gone and vandals have torn off the porch. The fuel storage shed is still intact and in pretty good shape, as is the brick fog signal building near the water's edge. The contents (including original brass work and fittings) of all buildings have been removed or destroyed.

The grounds throughout the complex are heavily overgrown, which makes it difficult to get far enough away from the lighthouse to clearly photograph it from some angles. (Take your wide-angle lens if you go!)

There were many varieties of flowers in bloom around the light. In fact, we knew we were getting close, even before we could see any buildings, because we started seeing types of flowers we hadn't seen any time during our approach hike.

Similar to Big Bay and 40 Mile Point Lights

The basic design of this lighthouse is quite similar to two other Michigan lighthouses: Big Bay Point Light on Lake Superior northwest of Marquette, and 40 Mile Point Light on Lake Huron north of Rogers City. I was very surprised to see such detailed and still beautiful brickwork in such a remote location!

The loss of this light is a real tragedy. I was especially saddened when my wife's uncle (the fuel delivery man mentioned above) told me that the fatal fire started when vandals went partying at the light and built a "campfire" on the floor of one of the rooms inside the lighthouse.

Another relative was involved in trying to extinguish the fire, which burned out of control for hours before a fire fighting party was able to reach the site by boat from Ontonagon. The fire was first noticed by a boater on the lake.

If you visit the Ontonagon area, don't miss the Ontonagon County Museum located in the village. They have a 4th order Fresnel lens on display, plus the actual keeper's logbook and many old photographs taken during the years that Fourteen Mile Point Light was in operation. They also provide tours of the Ontonagon Lighthouse.