Keweenaw Waterway Upper Entrance Light

Keweenaw Waterway Upper Entrance Light
Location	E. breakwater Keweenaw Waterway, N. end, .4 mi. offshore, Hancock Township, Michigan
Coordinates	47°14′4″N 88°37′49″W / 47.23444°N 88.63028°W
Tower
Constructed	1950
Foundation	Crib
Construction	steel tower
Automated	1970s
Height	Tower - 70 feet (21 m)
Shape	square tower on cylindrical base
Markings	white
Heritage	National Register of Historic Places listed place
Light
First lit	1950
Focal height	82 feet (25 m)
Lens	VRB-25 marine beacon.
Range	15 nautical miles (28 km; 17 mi)
Characteristic	Fl White, 15 sec
	Keweenaw Waterway Upper Entrance Light
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Built	1950
NRHP reference No.	14000425
Added to NRHP	July 18, 2014

The Keweenaw Waterway Upper Entrance Light is a lighthouse located at the north end of the Portage River in McLain State Park in Hancock Township, Michigan.^[3] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.^[2]

History

The Portage River was first dredged in 1860, and the need for a light to mark the mouth of the waterway was quickly obvious. In 1873, Congress appropriated $14000 to construct a lighthouse at this location. The first lighthouse was constructed in 1874 atop a nearby bluff. As part of ongoing waterway improvements, two piers extending into Lake Superior were constructed to shelter the entrance of the canal. In 1879, a wooden frame tower was constructed on the pier, and in 1887 a steam fog signal was added. The Federal government purchased the canal in 1891, and undertook a program of improvements. The pierhead light was extensively upgraded in 1895. Breakwaters were added in 1901, and in 1903 the ends were marked with pyramidal tower lighthouses.^[4]

In the 1930s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers undertook an extensive project to widen the canal. As part of this, the old 1874 brick lighthouse was demolished, and was replaced with a tower in 1937.^[4] The work on widening was completed in 1949,^[5] with a project that modified the location of the breakwaters at the mouth of the canal. This required removing the 1903 lights. In 1950 the current pierhead light was constructed to mark the eastern breakwater. The light was automated in the 1970s.^[4]

Description

The Keweenaw Waterway Upper Entrance Light is built on a rock-filled steel sheet piling caisson, supporting a superstructure with a single story octagonal concrete fog signal building with a 50-foot tall steel light tower on top. The tower significantly exemplifies aspects of Streamlined Moderne design.^[2]

The foundation of the lighthouse is circular caisson approximately 50 feet in diameter and 45 feet tall, built of interlocking steel sheet piling, filled with rock, and topped with a concrete deck about 15 feet above the level of the lake. Atop this is an 11 feet tall reinforced concrete fog signal building measuring approximately 34 feet by 34 feet. The building is rectangular with clipped corners and is painted white. A double-door entry is on one side, about two feet above the deck.^[4]

Centered on the top of the fog signal building is a five-story steel light tower. It was built from a standardized design developed for the U.S. Bureau of Lighthouses during the 1930s. The first story is a rectangle with slightly clipped corners (echoing the shape of the lower fog signal building). Above this, the four sides of the tower curve inward and upward to form a tall narrow rectangular tower. The upper stories of the tower are pierced with port lights. The top of the tower is a flat roof, and supports an open-air VRB-25 marine beacon.^[4]

References

^ Light List, Volume VII, Great Lakes (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard. 2012. p. 144.
^ ^a ^b ^c National Register of Historic Places Program: Keweenaw Waterway Lower Entrance Light
^ Rowlett, Russ (2013-04-23). "Lighthouses of the United States: Michigan's Western Lower Peninsula". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Daniel Koski-Karell; Jayne Aaron (February 6, 2014), National Register of Historic Places Registration: Keweenaw Waterway Upper Entrance Light (PDF)
^ Keweenaw Waterway Upper Entrance, MI, Lighthouse Friends]

External links

Media related to Keweenaw Waterway Upper Entrance Light at Wikimedia Commons

Keweenaw Waterway Upper Entry Light by Dave Wobser Archived 2016-08-15 at the Wayback Machine
Keweenaw Upper Entrance Light at Seeing The Light by Terry Pepper
"Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Michigan". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.

[cgll-1] Light List, Volume VII, Great Lakes (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard. 2012. p. 144.

[NPS-2] National Register of Historic Places Program: Keweenaw Waterway Lower Entrance Light

[rowlett-3] Rowlett, Russ (2013-04-23). "Lighthouses of the United States: Michigan's Western Lower Peninsula". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

[nom-4] Daniel Koski-Karell; Jayne Aaron (February 6, 2014), National Register of Historic Places Registration: Keweenaw Waterway Upper Entrance Light (PDF)

[lhf-5] Keweenaw Waterway Upper Entrance, MI, Lighthouse Friends]

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[5]

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Main: List of lighthouses in the United States
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Portage River/Ship Canal	Keweenaw Waterway Lower Entrance Keweenaw Waterway Upper Entrance Portage Lake Rouleau Point Range Front and Rear Lights
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Related	Lightship Huron List of lifesaving stations in Michigan Wixom Lake, Musselman Island lighthouse

v t e National Register of Historic Places in Houghton County, Michigan
Historic districts	Big Traverse Bay Historic District Calumet and Hecla Industrial District Calumet Downtown Historic District East Hancock Neighborhood Historic District Lake Linden Historic District Laurium Historic District Painesdale Historic District Quincy Mining Company Stamp Mills Historic District Quincy Street Historic District Shelden Avenue Historic District
Historic properties	Calumet Fire Station Chassell School Complex College Club House and Gymnasium County Road C117–Pike River Bridge Douglass House First Congregational Church Hancock Town Hall and Fire Hall Houghton County Courthouse J. Vivian Jr. and Company Building Jacobsville Finnish Lutheran Church Kaleva Temple Keweenaw Waterway Lower Entrance Light Keweenaw Waterway Upper Entrance Light Keweenaw National Historical Park Lake Linden Village Hall and Fire Station Lieblein House John J. Michels House Joseph Bosch Building Old Hancock Central High School Old Main, Suomi College Quincy Mine No. 2 Shaft Hoist House Ransom B. Shelden House Redridge Steel Dam Saint Henry's Evangelical Lutheran Church and Cemetery Saint Ignatius Loyola Church Shelden-Dee Block Smith–Dengler House South Range Community Building The Calumet Theatre Thomas H. Hoatson House
National Historic Landmarks	Calumet Historic District Quincy Mining Company Historic District
Former listings	Italian Hall
See also: National Register of Historic Places listings in Houghton County, Michigan and List of National Historic Landmarks in Michigan

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History

Description

See also

References

External links