Old Michigan City Light Explained

Coordinates:	41.7228°N -86.9058°W
Yearlit:	1858
Yeardeactivated:	1904
Height:	40feet^[1]
Focalheight:	60feet^[2]
Lens:	Fifth Order Fresnel^[3]
Module:	Embed: yes Michigan City Lighthouse Added: November 5, 1974 Refnum: 74000023

The Old Michigan City Light is a decommissioned lighthouse located in the harbor of Michigan City, Indiana.^{[4] [5]}

Built in 1858 at a cost of $8,000, this lighthouse, replaced an 1837 brick & stone light built at the edge of Lake Michigan. It was the second light at the site, and the predecessor to the Michigan City East Light, to which the lantern, lens and light were moved in 1904; it being the new light at the end of the newly extended pier.^[6]

It was remodeled in 1904. Seven Lighthouse keepers and fourteen assistant keepers served here from 1837-1940.^[7]

A fourth order Fresnel lens is on display.^[6]

It is one of a dozen past or present lighthouses in Indiana.

Location

The lighthouse is located in Washington Park. It is open every day except Mondays from 1 to 4 p.m., except in winter.^[8]

See also

• Lighthouses in the United States
• National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act

Further reading

• Andreas, A.T. (1884) History of Chicago from the Earliest Period to the Present Time,
• Chicago's Front Door, Chicago Public Library Digital Collection, website.
• Chicago, Scribner's Monthly (September 1875) Vol. X, No. 5.
• Graham, Charlote, Another Step into History at Old Michigan City Light (August, 2003) Lighthouse Digest.
• Harris, Patricia. Michigan City: Indiana's Only Lighthouse. The Keeper's Log (Spring, 1987), pp. 22–25.
• Hyde, Charles K., and Ann and John Mahan. (1995) The Northern Lights: Lighthouses of the Upper Great Lakes. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. .
• Havighurst, Walter (1943) The Long Ships Passing: The Story of the Great Lakes, Macmillan Publishers.
• Karamanski, T. Ed., Historic Lighthouses and Navigational Aids of the Illinois Shore of Lake Michigan Loyola University & Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, (1989).
• Longstreet, Stephen (1973) Chicago 1860-1919 (New York: McKay).
• Lopez, Victor. "This Old Lighthouse: Chicago Harbor Beacon Gets a Facelift." Coast Guard (September, 1997), pp. 24–25.
• Mayer, Harold M. (1957) The Port of Chicago University of Chicago Press.
• Web site: Seeing the Light: Lighthouses on the western Great Lakes. Pepper, Terry.
• Rice, Mary J., Chicago: Port to the World (Follet Publishers, 1969).
• Sapulski, Wayne S., (2001) Lighthouses of Lake Michigan: Past and Present (Paperback) (Fowlerville: Wilderness Adventure Books) ; .
• Web site: Beacons Shining in the Night: The Lighthouses of Michigan . Wagner, John L. . .

External links

• Old Lighthouse Museum
• National Park Service, Maritime History Project, Inventory of Historic Lights, Michigan City Lights.
• Satellite view at Google Maps.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Database of Tower Heights . Pepper, Terry . Seeing the Light . terrypepper.com . 2009-09-27 . https://web.archive.org/web/20000918211817/http://www.terrypepper.com/lights/lists/towers.htm . 2000-09-18 . dead .
2. Web site: Database of Focal Heights . Pepper, Terry . Seeing the Light . terrypepper.com . 2009-09-27 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080830100452/http://www.terrypepper.com/Lights/lists/focalheight.htm . 2008-08-30 . dead .
3. [National Park Service]
4. http://wlol.arlhs.com/lighthouse/USA913.html Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society, Old Michigan City (Lake Michigan) Light ARLHS USA-913
5. http://arlhs.com/awards/U_list.html Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society, World List of Lights.
6. http://lighthouse.boatnerd.com/gallery/Michigan/MichCityOld.htm Wobser, David, Old Michigan City Lighthouse
7. Sign posted by lighthouse
8. Web site: Anderson, Kraig, Lighthouse friends, Michigan City Lighthouse..