Help Preserve Spectacle Reef Light Station as a Living Museum and Learning Center

The Past

Spectacle Reef Light stands vigil in northern Lake Huron about 18 miles east of Cheboygan, Michigan marking one of the most treacherous stretches of the Straits of Mackinac.  An engineering feat, construction started on the spectacle shaped reef (hence the name) in 1870 and was completed four years later with the Light entering service in June of 1874. It is the most expensive lighthouse on the Great lakes and is made of interlocking, hand cut limestone blocks with a height of 86 feet above the water and was equipped with a second order Fresnel lens with a range of up to 28 miles.   

The Light also includes an attached fog building that was built in 1906 to house the two steam whistles (later upgraded to diaphone foghorns) and the machinery for the operation of the station with additional storage below. The entire structure rests on a massive 89’ by 89’ steel encased concrete deck.  The tower contains seven floors including the pedestal room and the lantern room.   There are also three below ground storage rooms outside the main structure accessible through hatches in the deck, as well as two in the basement of the fog building.

The lighthouse was automated in 1972 after almost 100 years of being a manned station, and the lens was removed in 1982 and is now on display at the National Museum of the Great Lakes in Toledo, Ohio.  The current light is a modern LED that flashes red every five seconds.

The Future

Spectacle Reef Preservation Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit formed in 2020 with the purpose to preserve, interpret, and operate the light station as an education center for the public. The Society plans to host residential keeper programs, tours, weekend and day events, as well as many educational events at the light and the surrounding areas on shore. Restoration is ongoing, and the Society is always looking for new volunteers who wish to save, teach and learn about the history of the light and other lights, the Straits of Mackinac and greater Great Lakes region.

The goal of the Society is to restore Spectacle Reef and open it to the public as a “Learning Light” and museum where people can discover not only the history of this unique structure but also the service and sacrifice of those who manned it to keep others safe.   The restoration will be a multi-year project with the plan of being operational in time to celebrate Spectacle Reef’s 150th anniversary in 2024. 

If you are interested in volunteering at the Light you can click here to find out more.

Phase 1

• Begin cleanup work and establish facilities to allow overnight stays for volunteers

• Scrape and prep interior walls for paint and properly dispose of removed material

• Start the repair/replication of windows in tower and fog building

• Repair current crane to lift heavy items onto the deck

• Ensure buildings are water tight to prevent further deterioration

Phase 2

• Refurbish the interior of the tower into livable space, so volunteers can live as Keeper’s did for nearly 100 years. This includes: refurbishment of bedrooms, kitchen, storage and office areas.

 Phase 3

• Create and establish a museum facility within the fog signal building.

• Network within communities across the region to educate the public, school groups, and youth organizations about the importance of this Light and lighthouses in general and their contributions to the economic and social development of the Great Lakes region.

Phase 4

• Reconstruct the boathouse, oil house, and replicate the second crane in order to fully restore the station to it’s late 1930’s appearance.

• Establish full time keeper programs on site during the operating season to educate visitors and continue restoration and maintenance projects.