- Copper Harbor Light
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Copper Harbor Light 
Copper Harbor Lighthouse Coordinates 47°28′27.5″N 87°51′36.5″W / 47.474306°N 87.860139°WCoordinates: 47°28′27.5″N 87°51′36.5″W / 47.474306°N 87.860139°W Year first lit 1866 Tower shape square Markings / pattern natural w/black lantern; attached house w/red roof. Height Tower - 42 feet (13 m) Focal height Focal plane - 65 feet (20 m)[1] Original lens Fourth Order Fresnel lens[2] Range 27 miles (43 km) Adjacent tower ARLHS number USA-193[3][4] Michigan State Historic SiteDesignated: February 22, 1974 The Copper Harbor Light is a lighthouse located in the harbor of Copper Harbor, Michigan USA on the Keweenaw Peninsula of Upper Michigan inside Fort Wilkins Historic State Park.
Contents
History
The Copper Harbor Lighthouse was built on the tip of the eastern point of land that hugs the harbor. The lighthouse aided in the transport of copper from the Upper Peninsula. Ships carrying immigrants, supplies, and equipment increased dramatically.[5]
Funding to build the light was approved in 1847. The first tower was constructed in 1848 and resembled that at Old Presque Isle Lighthouse.[5] The Stone Masonry was dismantled, and the stones used as the foundation for the replacement lighthouse built in 1866.[6]
The current lightkeeper's dwelling house is a survivor of the first light tower. An improved lighthouse, which also survives, was raised in 1866 three years before the installation of the Copper Harbor Front Range Light and the Copper Harbor Rear Range Light. The steel light tower in current use went into service in 1933.
The station was established in 1849. A Fresnel lens was installed in 1856. The current tower was first lit in 1866. It is no longer operational. It was automated in 1919, and deactivated in 1933. The foundation materials are dressed stone and timer, and the building was made of brick. The tower is square. The color is "natural with black lantern." A keeper's house is attached.[7]
In 1933, the light itself was removed from the lighthouse, and placed on the adjacent 62-foot (19 m) high white skeleton tower,[8] which has a focal plane of 90 feet (27 m). It has a range of 27 miles (43 km).[9]
Present
The Copper Harbor Lighthouse is currently (as of 2006) operated as a unit of the Michigan Department of History, Arts, and Libraries. It is open to the public in summer months and features a museum about the lighthouse and Lake Superior maritime history. Other buildings on the location include a detached 1849 dwelling house, which functioned as a storage and oil house.[2]
A lighthouse tour is available, complete with a ride on a wooden double-ender launch.[10] The boat leaves from the Municipal pier in Copper Harbor, and takes about 15 minutes to reach the point.[11]
See also
Original Lighthouse, U.S. Coast Guard Archive Photo
References
- ^ Pepper, Terry. "Seeing the Light: Lighthouses on the western Great Lakes". http://www.terrypepper.com/lights/index.htm.
- ^ a b National Park Service, Maritime History Project, Inventory of Historic Lights, Copper Harbor Light.
- ^ Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society, Copper Harbor (Lake Superior) Light ARLHS USA-193.
- ^ Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society, World List of Lights (WLOL).
- ^ a b Photographs Copper Harbor Light, Lighthouse Central, The Ultimate Guide to Upper Michigan Lighthouses by Jerry Roach (Publisher: Bugs Publishing LLC - 2007). ISBN 978-0-9747977-2-4.
- ^ Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy, Copper Harbor Lighthouse.
- ^ "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Michigan". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. http://www.uscg.mil/history/weblighthouses/LHMI.asp.
- ^ Detroit News, Interactive map on Michigan lighthouses.
- ^ (PDF) Light List, Volume VII, Great Lakes. Light List. United States Coast Guard. p. {{{page}}}. http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/pdf/lightLists/LightList%20V7.pdf.
- ^ Copper Harbor Lighthouse tour.
- ^ Wobser, David, Boatnerd.com Copper Harbor Light.
External links
The Copper Harbor Light- Anderson, Kraig, Lighthouse Friends, Copper Harbor Light.
- Aerial photos, Copper Harbor Light, marinas.com.
- Copper Harbor Lighthouse Tours.
- Copper Harbor Lighthouse, information from Michigan Historical Center, including a virtual tour.
- Interactive map on Michigan lighthouses. Detroit News.
- Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/lighthouse/miup.htm.
- National Park Service Maritime History, Inventory of Historic Lights, Copper Harbor Light.
- Photographs, Directions, Waypoints and History from Lighthouse Central.
- Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light, Copper Harbor Light.
- Wobser, David, Boatnerd.com Copper Harbor Light.
Lighthouses of Michigan See also: List of lighthouses in Michigan Northern upper peninsula Au Sable Light • Big Bay Point Light • Copper Harbor Light • Copper Harbor Front Range Light • Crisp Point Light • Eagle Harbor Light • Eagle Harbor Range Lights • Eagle River Light • Fourteen Mile Point Light • Grand Island East Channel Light • Grand Island Harbor Rear Range Light • Grand Island North Light • Granite Island Light • Gull Rock Light Station • Huron Island Light • Isle Royale Light • Manitou Island Light Station • Marquette Harbor Light • Mendota (Bete Grise) Light • Munising Front Range Light • Munising Rear Range Light • Portage River (Jacobsville) Light • Passage Island Light • Rock Harbor Light • Rock of Ages Light • Sand Hills Light • St. Martin Island Light • Stannard Rock Light • Thunder Bay Island Light • Whitefish Point LightSouthern upper peninsula DeTour Reef Light • Manistique East Breakwater Light • Martin Reef Light • Menominee Pier Light • Naubinway Island Light • Peninsula Point Light • Poverty Island Light • Sand Point Light Escanaba • Sand Point Light Baraga • Seul Choix Light • Squaw Island Light • White Shoal LightSt. Mary's River Frying Pan Island Light • Pipe Island Light • Point Iroquois Light • Round Island Light (St. Mary's River) • Six Mile Point Range Rear LightPortage River/Ship Canal Keweenaw Waterway (Portage Lake) Lower Entrance • Keweenaw Waterway Upper Entrance Light • Rouleau Point Range Front and Rear LightsStraits of Mackinac Bois Blanc Light • McGulpin Point Light • Old Mackinac Point Light • Round Island Light • Round Island Passage • St. Helena Island LightWestern lower peninsula Beaver Island Harbor Light • Beaver Island Head Light • Big Sable Point Light • Charlevoix Light • Charlevoix South Pier Light • Frankfort Light • Frankfort South Range Light • Grand Haven Light • Grand Haven South Pierhead Outer Light • Grand Haven Main Light • Gray's Reef Light • Holland Harbor Light • Ile Aux Galets • Little Sable Point Light • Little Traverse Light • Ludington Light • Manistee Main Light • Manistee Pierhead lights • Miller Memorial Light • Mission Point Light • Mission Point Light (2) • Muskegon Breakwater Light • Muskegon Pier Light • Point Betsie Light • South Fox Island • South Haven Light • South Manitou Island Light • Waugoshance Light • White River LightEastern lower peninsula Alpena Light • Bellanger Park (Ecorse) Light • Caseville Harbor (Saginaw Bay) • Belle Isle Light • Charity Island Light • Cheboygan River Range Front Light • Cheboygan Crib Light • Detroit River Light • Fort Gratiot Light • Forty Mile Point Light • Fourteen Foot Shoal Light • Gibraltar Light • Gravelly Shoal Light • Harbor Beach Light • Manning Memorial Light • Mariners Memorial (River Rouge) Light • New Presque Isle Light • Old Presque Isle Light • Poe Reef Light • Pointe aux Barques Light • Port Austin Light • Port Sanilac Light • Saginaw River Range Front Light • Saginaw River Rear Range Light • Spectacle Reef Light • St. Clair Flats Front and Rear Range Light • Sturgeon Point Light • Tawas Point Light • Tri-Centennial Light of Detroit • William Livingtone Memorial LightHistorical (lost) lights Au Sable North Pierhead • Clinton River Light • Ecorse Light • Ecorse Range Rear • Gibraltar Light • Grassy Island Lighthouse • Grassy Island North Channel Range • Grassy Island South Channel Range • Grosse Isle South Channel Range • Harwood Point East Range Front (St. Mary's River) • Mama Juda Light • Mama Juda Range Front • Middle Lake George • Monroe Pier • New Buffalo • North Manitou Island • Rouleau Point Range Front and Rear • Saginaw Bay • Sand Beach North Entrance East • Squaw Point • St. Mary's River Lower Range Front • Turtle Island Light • Vidal Shoals Channel Range Front and Rear • Windmill Point Range Front and Rear • Winter Point Range FrontRelated – Lightship Huron, List of lifesaving stations in Michigan Categories:- Lighthouses in Michigan
- Lighthouse museums in Michigan
- Museums in Keweenaw County, Michigan
- Buildings and structures completed in 1866
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