St. Martin Island Light

St. Martin Island Light
	St. Martin Island Light USCG Archive
Location	St. Martin Island Lake Michigan
Coordinates	45°30′10″N 86°45′27″W / 45.50278°N 86.75750°W
Tower
Constructed	1905
Foundation	Granite
Construction	Steel exoskeleton
Height	75 ft (23 m)
Markings	white with black lantern
Heritage	National Register of Historic Places listed place, Michigan state historic site
Light
First lit	1905
Focal height	81 feet (25 m)
Lens	occulting 4th Order Fresnel illuminated by a 24,000 candlepower incandescent oil vapor lamp. Rotating red and white flash panels. (original), 7.5-inch (190 mm) Tideland Signal acrylic lens (current)
Range	18 nautical miles (33 km; 21 mi)
Characteristic	Al W R 10s: W fl 5s ec.; R fl 5s ec. Light visible from 135° to 355°, dark sector covering island.
	St. Martin Island Light Station
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	Michigan State Historic Site
Nearest city	Fairport, Michigan
Area	2 acres (0.81 ha)
MPS	U.S. Coast Guard Lighthouses and Light Stations on the Great Lakes TR
NRHP reference No.	84001387
Added to NRHP	July 19, 1984

St. Martin Island Light is an exoskeleton lighthouse on St. Martin Island. It marks one of four passages between Lake Michigan and the bay of Green Bay.^[8] Constructed in 1905, this light tower is the only example in the US of a pure exoskeletal tower on the Great Lakes. Similar designs exist in Canada.^[9] Painted white, the hexagonal tower is made of iron plates which are supported by six exterior steel posts that have latticed buttresses.^[5]^[10]

The cream city brick lightkeeper's house was modeled after that used for the Plum Island Range Lights.^[5]

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 19, 1984, Reference #84001387 as St. Martin Light Station (U.S. Coast Guard/ Great Lakes TR). It is not on the state list/inventory.^[11] A steam fog signal was also installed.^[12] which was thereafter replaced by a diaphone.^[5]

The lighthouse keeper's dwelling has been abandoned and "is in poor condition."^[10]

The light station is closed to the public. It is managed by in partnership with the Little Traverse Bay Band of the Odawa Indian Nation.^[9]^[13]

References

^ Pepper, Terry. "Database of Tower Heights". Seeing the Light. terrypepper.com. Archived from the original on 2000-09-18. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
^ Pepper, Terry. "Database of Focal Heights". Seeing the Light. terrypepper.com. Archived from the original on 2008-08-30. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
^ ^a ^b Light List, Volume VII, Great Lakes (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Michigan". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Pepper, Terry, Seeing the Light, St. Martin Island Lighthouse".^{[permanent dead link]}
^ "Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy, St. Martin Island Light". Archived from the original on 2012-02-23. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
^ "Wobser, David, St. Martin Island Light". Boatnerd. Archived from the original on 2009-07-27. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
^ ^a ^b Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
^ ^a ^b "Lighthouse Depot, St. Martin Island Light". Archived from the original on 2011-06-14. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
^ "Maritime History Project, Michigan Lighthouses, Inventory of Historic Light Stations, St. Martin Island Light". National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2012-10-24. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
^ "Saint Martin Island Light Station". Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2011-11-12., Michigan Historic Sites Online,
^ "Little Traverse Bay Band of the Odawa Indian Nation". Archived from the original on 2011-12-25. Retrieved 2011-11-12.

External links

Media related to St. Martin Island Light at Wikimedia Commons
St. Martin Island Light on the World List of Lights
Detroit News, Interactive map on Michigan lighthouses, which fails to list St. Martin Island Light.
Interactive map of Lights in Northern Lake Michigan, mapped by Google.
Map of Michigan Lighthouse in PDF Format.
Map of lighthouses in western Lake Michigan.^{[permanent dead link]}
Boudreau, Sophie (April 14, 2020). "A Drone Flew High Above An Uninhabited Island In Michigan And Caught The Most Incredible Footage" (Video). Only in your state.

[1] Pepper, Terry. "Database of Tower Heights". Seeing the Light. terrypepper.com. Archived from the original on 2000-09-18. Retrieved 2011-11-12.

[2] Pepper, Terry. "Database of Focal Heights". Seeing the Light. terrypepper.com. Archived from the original on 2008-08-30. Retrieved 2011-11-12.

[V7-3] Light List, Volume VII, Great Lakes (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard.

[USCG-4] "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Michigan". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.

[TPepper-5] "Pepper, Terry, Seeing the Light, St. Martin Island Lighthouse".^{[permanent dead link]}

[Conservancy-6] "Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy, St. Martin Island Light". Archived from the original on 2012-02-23. Retrieved 2011-11-12.

[nris-7] "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.

[Wobser-8] "Wobser, David, St. Martin Island Light". Boatnerd. Archived from the original on 2009-07-27. Retrieved 2011-11-12.

[Rowlett-9] Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

[Depot-10] "Lighthouse Depot, St. Martin Island Light". Archived from the original on 2011-06-14. Retrieved 2011-11-12.

[NPS-11] "Maritime History Project, Michigan Lighthouses, Inventory of Historic Light Stations, St. Martin Island Light". National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2012-10-24. Retrieved 2011-11-12.

[12] "Saint Martin Island Light Station". Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2011-11-12., Michigan Historic Sites Online,

[13] "Little Traverse Bay Band of the Odawa Indian Nation". Archived from the original on 2011-12-25. Retrieved 2011-11-12.

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v t e Lighthouses in Michigan
Main: List of lighthouses in the United States
Northern Upper Peninsula	Au Sable Big Bay Point Copper Harbor Copper Harbor Front Range Crisp Point Eagle Harbor Eagle Harbor Range Lights Eagle River Fourteen Mile Point Grand Island East Channel Grand Island Harbor Rear Range Grand Island North Grand Marais Range Lights Granite Island Gull Rock Huron Island Isle Royale Manitou Island Marquette Breakwater Outer Marquette Harbor Mendota (Bete Grise) Munising Front Range Munising Rear Range Ontonagon Ontonagon Harbor West Breakwater Portage River (Jacobsville) Passage Island Presque Isle Harbor Breakwater Light Rock Harbor Rock of Ages Sand Hills Sand Point Light (Baraga) St. Martin Island Stannard Rock Thunder Bay Island Whitefish Point
Southern Upper Peninsula	DeTour Reef Lansing Shoals Manistique East Breakwater Martin Reef Menominee Pier Minneapolis Shoal Naubinway Island Peninsula Point Poverty Island Sand Point Seul Choix Squaw Island St. Martin Island
St. Mary's River	Frying Pan Island Pipe Island Point Iroquois Round Island Light (St. Mary's River) Six Mile Point Range Rear Winter Point Range Front
Portage River/Ship Canal	Keweenaw Waterway Lower Entrance Keweenaw Waterway Upper Entrance Portage Lake Rouleau Point Range Front and Rear Lights
Straits of Mackinac	Bois Blanc McGulpin Point Old Mackinac Point Round Island Round Island Passage St. Helena Island Wawatam
Western Lower Peninsula	Beaver Island Harbor Beaver Island Head Big Sable Point Cedar River Charlevoix Charlevoix South Pier Frankfort Frankfort South Range Grand Haven North Pierhead Grand Haven South Pierhead Entrance Grand Haven South Pierhead Inner Grand Traverse Grays Reef Holland Harbor Ile Aux Galets Little Sable Point Little Traverse Ludington Manistee Pierhead Manning Memorial Mission Point Mission Point (1933) Muskegon Breakwater Muskegon Pier North Manitou Shoal Pentwater North Pierhead Pentwater South Pierhead Point Betsie Portage Lake South Fox Island South Haven South Manitou Island St. Joseph North Pier Inner St. Joseph North Pier Outer Waugoshance White River White Shoal
Eastern Lower Peninsula	Alpena Caseville Harbor Charity Island Cheboygan Crib Cheboygan River Front Range Detroit River Fort Gratiot Forty Mile Point Fourteen Foot Shoal Gibraltar Gravelly Shoal Harbor Beach Lake St. Clair Mariners Memorial Middle Island Miller Memorial New Presque Isle Old Presque Isle Peche Island Rear Range Poe Reef Pointe aux Barques Port Austin Port Sanilac Saginaw Bay Saginaw River Rear Range Spectacle Reef St. Clair Flats Front and Rear Range Light Sturgeon Point Tawas Point Thunder Bay Island Tri-Centennial Light of Detroit William Livingstone Memorial Windmill Point
Historical (lost) lights	Au Sable North Pierhead Belle Isle Clinton River Ecorse Ecorse Range Rear Gibraltar Grassy Island Grassy Island North Channel Range Lights Grassy Island South Channel Range Lights Grosse Ile North Channel Range Lights Grosse Ile South Channel Range Lights Harwood Point East Range Front Kalamazoo River Mama Juda Mama Juda Range Front Manistee Main Middle Lake George Monroe Pier New Buffalo North Manitou Island Saginaw Bay Sand Beach North Entrance East Squaw Point St. Mary's River Lower Range Front Vidal Shoals Channel Range Front and Rear Lights Windmill Point Range Front and Rear Lights
Related	Lightship Huron List of lifesaving stations in Michigan Wixom Lake, Musselman Island lighthouse

v t e National Register of Historic Places in Michigan
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