Shine a light for the world to see

By HOLLY MACE

An area rich in maritime history, Northeast Michigan is home to several lighthouses, each with its own history and tale to tell.

“Lighthouses represent and are an important part of maritime history and we are seeing a growing number of what we call cultural tourists who are interested in maritime culture,” said Deb Pardike, director of the Alpena Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. “A good part of that I would attribute to the Great Lakes Lighthouse Festival.”

With a goal of preserving and protecting lighthouses for future generations, the Great Lakes Lighthouse Festival is held every year during the second weekend in October. Proceeds from the festival are shared with at least 10 lighthouse groups to put toward their preservation efforts.
Lighthouses are extremely important to the area’s tourism product, she said, and tend to be underappreciated by the people who live here.

The 1840 and 1870 Presque Isle lighthouses are two of the several located in the area and are located within one mile of each other. The 1870 lighthouse is the tallest on Lake Huron.
“The Presque Isle lighthouses annually attract over 75,000 people who specifically go to visit those lighthouses and they’re really only open in the summertime,” Pardike said. “Those are just a wonderful feature, wonderful asset to have in our area, in addition to the other lighthouses.”

Other lighthouses in the area include the Sturgeon Point Lighthouse north of Harrisville, the Middle Island Light Station located on Lake Huron between Thunder Bay and Presque Isle, Forty Mile Point located north of Rogers City, the Alpena Breakwater Light located near the mouth of the Thunder Bay River and the Thunder Bay Island Lighthouse, which is the second oldest standing tower on Lake Huron and is located about 13 miles from the Alpena harbor.

There is a certain romance that draws people to lighthouses, Pardike said.

“It’s a fascinating thing,” she said. “There’s something romantic about an isolated lighthouse out on an untamed shore surrounded by water.”

The history of the lighthouse keepers and the seafarers who made their way on the water using these guiding lights also is an attraction.

The mysteries surrounding lighthouses, particularly the ghost stories, are of particular interest to many lighthouse enthusiasts.

“If there’s a story that goes along with it, then it becomes very interesting and you can hardly beat a ghost story,” Pardike said.

One such “ghost” is said to appear from time to time at the 1840 Presque Isle Lighthouse. The light at the tower was turned off several years ago but the tale is that the light can be seen shining between dusk and dawn and the person behind it is George Parris, the bearded former caretaker of the lighthouse and grounds, who died in 1992.

Visitors to the lighthouse also have told of speaking to a bearded man at the top of the tower — a man who bore a striking resemblance to a portrait of Parris that is above a fireplace mantle in the cottage.

The 1870 Presque Isle Lighthouse also has its own tales including a story of a wife of one of the former lighthouse keepers who became romantically involved with another keeper from the Lighthouse Keeper’s service. Her husband locked her in a pit-like area between the keeper’s quarters and the lighthouse and, according to the tale, the woman died while locked in the pit and occasionally is seen on the grounds of the park.

“Lighthouses are irresistible,” Pardike said.