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| Fort Gratiot Lighthouse | Seeing The Light |
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Historical Information With the surge in vessel traffic on Lake Huron in the early 1800's, the need for a lighthouse to guide vessels into the river and away from the shallows at the River entrance became a matter of increasing importance. In response to this need, Congress appropriated $3,500 to construct a lighthouse "near Fort Gratiot, in Michigan Territory" on March 3rd of 1823.
Lewis sub-contracted the construction of the tower and keepers dwelling that would become known as the "Fort Gratiot Light" to Mr. Daniel Warren of Rochester New York. Work commenced on the structure, but appears to have been running far beyond the scope of the original bid, since Congress appropriated an additional $5,000 for the project's completion on April 2, 1825. With the completion of construction on August 8th of that year, Fort Gratiot Light held the honor of becoming the first lighthouse in the State of Michigan.
During the summer of 1828, McDougall further reported that the tower was cracking, and had begun to settle in such a manner that it was leaning noticeably toward the East. Finally, reports from mariners indicated that the tower was both poorly located and illuminated, since they found that its' feeble light was virtually invisible until their vessels were almost at the mouth of the River. As a result of continuing erosion at the foot of the tower caused by the swift current in the river, the footings of the tower became so severely undermined that the tower finally toppled to the ground during one of Huron's infamous November storms in 1828. Congress acted swiftly, and on April 2nd of 1829, appropriated $8,000 for the construction of a new, improved lighthouse.
As lake shipping continued to rise dramatically in the early second half of the century, it was determined that the Fort Gratiot Light needed further upgrading. To this end, in 1861 the Government increased the height of the tower to 82 feet, and the Fourth Order Fresnel was replaced with a larger Third Order Lens, showing a fixed white light. The old Fourth Order lens was taken to Saginaw and installed in the Saginaw River Lighthouse.
The original keepers dwelling was of wooden frame and clapboard construction, and unfortunately burned to the ground in 1874. A brick duplex was added to the site to provide quarters for the keeper and his family along with the assistant keeper and his family. Fog signals have long been an integral part of the story at Fort Gratiot Light. The first such unit was installed in 1871. A second steam-powered diaphone fog signal unit was added in 1880, and both were replaced by a steam-powered diaphone system housed in a brick building in 1901, which still stands today.
In 1933 the tower was outfitted with a green
DCB-24 Aerobeacon, and is
completely automated. With a range of 18 miles, the DCB-24 exhibits a
one half second flash in every 15 seconds As we walked along the Canadian shore we passed a number of fishermen who were fishing for walleye. They were all very friendly, and made some humorous remarks about all camera equipment we were carrying. Of course, they made some real meat of the fact that after we returned to the truck I had to walk all the way back to the point to retrieve my glasses, which I had removed to take photographs, laid on the ground, and characteristically forgotten!
We found out that Bob was in the Coast Guard during World War II, and then joined the Detroit Police force, where he ended-up working in the Narcotics Division. As a current member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary, he has some great stories to tell both about the lighthouse and his own life, and he was a joy to be with as he showed his collection of artifacts, explained the history of the Light, and took us to the top of the tower.
Bob informed us that the Coast Guard has plans to construct a new
facility, and the Port Huron Museum intends to take over the entire
facility containing the lighthouse, using the Keepers dwelling and the
grounds to house their expanding maritime collection. We hope they
accomplish their plans, as this will make for an excellent exhibit area.
We bid farewell to Bob at the gates of the compound, and headed North
toward Port Sanilac. |
The contract for construction of the lighthouse and keepers dwelling was
awarded to Captain Winslow Lewis of Massachusetts. Lewis was the
inventor of the patented Lewis Lamp, which the Fifth Auditor had
universally adopted as the primary source of illumination in the
nation's growing inventory of lighthouses. A staunch supporter and ally
of the Fifth Auditor, Lewis had branched out into the business of
lighthouse construction, and as the frequent low bidder, was being
awarded a growing number of contracts to fulfill the nation's need for
navigational aids on the East Coast.
Rufus Match & Jean B. Denoyers served as temporary keepers until the
selection and appointment of a permanent keeper. The new tower stood 32
feet in height, with a diameter of 18 feet at the base, tapering to a
diameter of 9 ½ feet at its top. The lantern room was equipped with one
of the customary Lewis Lamp systems. George McDougall, a former Detroit
Lawyer of some ill repute was selected as the lights' first official
keeper, and arrived to take responsibility for the station in December
of that same year.
Even with the major cost overrun, it became quickly apparent that the
structure was both poorly designed and constructed. McDougall's reports
indicated that the stairs were so steep that they had to be climbed
sideways, and the trapdoor into the lantern room was barely large enough
for a man to squeeze through. While McDougall no doubt reported with
truth on this situation, it must be noted that he was reputedly a short
man with a weight in excess of 300 pounds, and as such hired an
assistant to perform all of his tower work!
This time, the bid for construction was awarded to Lucius Lyons who was
the Deputy Surveyor General of the Northwest Territory at the time, and
would later go on to become one of Michigan's first US Senators. Lyons
crew began work immediately, and completed the reconstruction in
December of that same year. The new brick tower was 74 feet in height,
and 25 feet in diameter, and the lantern was once again outfitted with one of
the universal 
Soon after its' establishment, the new US Lighthouse Board determined
that the Lewis Lamps universally accepted by the prior Pleasonton
administration were significantly inferior to the French Fresnel lenses
being adopted throughout the rest of the world. After conducting
successful trials of the new lenses in a few East Coast lights, the
Board decided to upgrade all lenses throughout the system. As a result, the Lewis Lamps were removed from Fort Gratiot in 1857, and
the tower was refitted with a 
The growing amount of railroad traffic in Port Huron created
confusion for many mariners when the locomotive headlamps were seen to shine
as brightly as the Fresnel in the lighthouse. The problem was remedied
in 1867, when the "fixed white" lens at Fort Gratiot was swapped with the
"fixed
varied with a flash" lens from the Pointe Aux Barques light.
The tower was again severely threatened during the great freshwater
hurricane of 1913, when it was almost washed from its foundation. After
weathering this storm within the tower, Captain Frank Kimball, the
keeper at the time, was quoted as saying "I watched waves as high
as 30 to 40 feet pounding on the lighthouse, and I think if the storm
had lasted another hour the lighthouse would have been wiped-out."
In order to help protect the foundation from such future poundings,
Kimball installed a three-foot high brick and mortar retaining wall
around the lake side of the tower the following year. This wall is still
standing today, and has become an integral feature of the tower
landscape.
We drove back across the bridge, through Customs, and to the Coast Guard
station, where Bob was waiting for us. Spending an hour with Bob was a high point of the trip. He is a colorful
75 year-old gentleman with some amazing spring in his step. He obviously
enjoys his role as keeper of the light, and really looks the part with
his gray handlebar mustache, suspenders, keepers hat and tie.
National Parks Service 1994 Inventory of Historic
Light Stations