Indian Country Sports Light

L'Anse, Michigan, USA

Lake Superior

Indian Country Sports light is probably the newest officially registered, functioning lighthouse on the Great Lakes. Built in 1995 by Steve Koski, owner of Indian Country Sports, the tower you see on the corner of his sporting goods store is the result of Steve's deeply-felt passion for lighthouses.

This lighthouse is registered with the U.S. Coast guard as a private aid to navigation. It contains a 150 mm Max Lumina optic, model ML-155. The light source is an electric bulb mounted in a 6-bulb automatic-changing magazine. The lamp produces a flashing white light every 2.5 seconds. The tower is 50 feet high, resulting in a focal plane 44 feet above lake level. The tower was designed to withstand 100 miles per hour winds.

The new Indian Country Sports building houses a business that has been in the Koski family since the 1970s. Previously owned by his father, Steve has worked there since 1970, and now owns the business himself. When it came time to replace the old store with a new building, Steve naturally drew a lighthouse tower into the plans. Thus, Indian Country Sports Light was conceived.

Steve relates that he had trouble registering the lighthouse with the Coast Guard, since it had been over 70 years since a new lighthouse was added to the light list, and no one in the Coast Guard remembered how to do it!

In addition to owning and managing Indian Country Sports, Steve Koski and his wife Anne are very active in the Huron Island Lighthouse Preservation Association (HILPA). This group is actively working to stabilize and eventually restore the Huron Island Lighthouse in Lake Superior.

GPS fans can easily locate this light by navigating to 46°45'28.2" North, 88°27'21.3" West. For the rest of us, go to the south end of downtown L'Anse, find the city boat launch, and the light is right across the street.