Want to Save a Lighthouse? Here's Your Chance

The Detroit River Light, standing at river mouth on Lake Erie since 1885, is one of six lighthouses the government wants to turn over to volunteer stewards. (Photo via Flickr)

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Here’s a sweet opportunity for groups with an interest in preserving Michigan’s nautical history.

The U.S. General Services Administration is looking for stewards to care for three historic lighthouses located along the Great Lakes Public Trust bottomlands owned by the state of Michigan, The Detroit News reports.

State and local governments, nonprofit corporations, historic preservation groups and community development groups are eligible to take control of maintenance of storied lighthouses under the National Lighthouse Preservation Act program. The lighthouses can be operated as museums, parks, recreational, cultural and similar purposes, and must be rehabilitated according to Department of Interior standards.

The U.S. Coast Guard retains ownership of the lighthouses and their beacons will remain active as navigation aids. Turning their maintenance over to local groups saves taxpayers money, the GSA said.

The three Michigan lighthouses are:

• The Detroit River Light, built in 1885 near the end of Bar Shoal in Lake Erie near the mouth of the Detroit River;
• The North Manitou Shoal Light, which went into service in 1896.
• The Minneapolis Shoal Light, which went into service on July 4, 1936, and marks the entrance to Little Bay De Noc in Delta County.

Three other lighthouses, one in Wisconsin and two in Connecticut, are also available under the program.

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• Unusually Clear Water Reveals Shipwrecks at Lake Michigan Floor

The oldest of the three Michigan Lighthouses, the Detroit River Light, is visible from Brownstown Township, where residents like Humphrey Macdonald applaud the preservation program.

“They are a symbol of hope,” Macdonald told The Detroit News. “They are a gateway to home, to safety.”

With its pointed ends directed to the mouth of the river to break ice flows in the winter and spring, the Detroit River Light looks something like a vessel. The 49-foot-high cast iron plate tower is 22 feet in diameter at the base and 18-feet in diameter at the top.

If no stewards step forward, the lighthouses could be sold at public auction. Visit disposal.gsa.gov for information on the lighthouse program.

Some 114 lighthouses across the country have been sold or transferred out of federal ownership under the National Lighthouse Preservation Act, including 25 in Michigan.