Round Island Light, Michigan

This light is a twin of the Two Harbors Light in Minnesota. Located in Coast Guard District 9,[http://www.michiganlights.com/roundislandlh.htm Michigan lighthouse Conservancy, Round Island Light.] the Round Island Light was built of painted brick in 1895;{{cite web|url=http://clarke.cmich.edu/lighthouses/index.htm |author= Wagner, John L. |title=Beacons Shining in the Night: The Lighthouses of Michigan (Chronology of Michigan Lighthouses) | publisher=Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University}} its construction was funded by a predecessor agency of the United States Coast Guard, and the structure was raised by a team led by Mackinac Island mason-carpenter Frank Rounds. The structure served as an active, manned lighthouse and fog signal from 1895 to 1947. It was abandoned in 1947 and replaced by the Round Island Passage Light, an automated light tower located in the adjacent Round Island Channel.[http://www.terrypepper.com/Lights/huron/roundisland/roundisland.htm Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light, Round Island Light.] Abandoned, the lighthouse fell prey to plunderers and vandals. The structure's deterioration was almost complete in 1972 when a storm caused a corner of the lighthouse structure to collapse.[http://www.lighthousefriends.com/macstraits.html Lighthouses in the Mackinac Straits.][http://lighthouse.boatnerd.com/gallery/Huron/RoundIsland-before-VB.jpg Postcard – 1978 before restoration – at] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711121328/http://lighthouse.boatnerd.com/gallery/Huron/RoundIsland-before-VB.jpg |date=2011-07-11 }} Boatnerd

This event spurred preservation efforts. Round Island Light was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in September 1974, and was added to the list of registered Michigan historic sites in 1978. Emergency work to stabilize the light tower structure was conducted in the 1970s, but the light tower remained gutted and inoperative. Restoration work was conducted in 1995[http://www.unc.edu/~duncan/personal/RItext.html Round Island Lighthouse] by the Friends of the Round Island Lighthouse and led by the Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association (GLLKA),[http://www.gllka.com/ Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association.] aided by Boy Scouts of America Troop 323. The work was partially funded by the state of Michigan, with the help of funds from a special license plate[http://www.michigan.gov/hal/0,1607,7-160-17449_18638_21818-57124--,00.html State of Michigan information on Grants for Lighthouse Preservation] developed by the state to raise donations for lighthouse restoration.[http://www.michigan.gov/hal/0,1607,7-160-18835_18896-131030--,00.html Michigan Government on Round Island Light.][http://www.unc.edu/~duncan/personal/RItext.html Lynne Cohen Duncan, Round Island Light] In 1973 rip rap was spread around the lighthouse base to help prevent more deterioration. The following year, after it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, local fundraising efforts collected $12,000 for the project. The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation appropriated $125,000 in 1977 for the project.{{Cite web |url=http://www.wmta.org/round-island-light-station-90/ |title=West Michigan Tourist Association, Round Island light. |access-date=2008-04-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080518011604/http://www.wmta.org/round-island-light-station-90/ |archive-date=2008-05-18 |url-status=dead }} As a result of the success of this restoration work, the Coast Guard granted permission to relight the Round Island Light. The light was re-lit in 1996.[https://archive.today/20130128115150/http://www.mackinacislandnews.com/news/2005/0910/News/030.html Mackinac Island News, September 10, 2005, on Round Island light.]

The original brick outhouse and oil house are still intact.{{Cite web |url=http://lighthouse.boatnerd.com/gallery/Huron/roundisland.htm |title=Wobser, David, Boatnerd.com on Round Island Light, with links to pictures. |access-date=2008-04-09 |archive-date=2008-05-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517023749/http://lighthouse.boatnerd.com/gallery/Huron/roundisland.htm |url-status=dead }}

The Round Island Light is a registered Michigan historic site and is the focus of an official Michigan Historical Marker erected in 1978, Registered Site No. L0107. The text of the marker notes:

{{blockquote|The Round Island Lighthouse, seen south of this site, was completed in 1895. Operating under the auspices of the United States Government, this facility was in continuous use for fifty-two years. It was manned by a crew of three until its beacon was replaced by an automated light in 1924. A sole caretaker occupied and operated the station from 1924 to 1947. Following the construction of a new automatic beacon near the breakwater off the south shore of Mackinac Island, the lighthouse was abandoned.{{cite uscghist|MI}} The United States Forest Service now supervises the structure which is located in the Hiawatha National Forest. The lighthouse serves as a sentinel for the past, reminding visitors of the often precarious sailing and rich history of the Straits of Mackinac.{{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20120629210909/http://www.michmarkers.com/Frameset.htm Michigan Historical Markers.]}} }}

File:Mackinac Island topographic map-en.svg]]

Because Round Island is not accessible to most visitors (but it can be visited),National Park Service, [http://www.nps.gov/history/maritime/light/roundmi.htm Maritime Heritage Program, Inventory of Historic Lights, Round Island light.] the "Round Island Lighthouse" historical marker is located on Biddle's Point on nearby Mackinac Island, within easy view of the light tower.[http://www.lighthousecentral.com/lighthouse_gallery.php4?lighthouse=Round%20Island%20Lighthouse Lighthouse Central, Photographs, History, Directions and Way points for Round Island Light, The Ultimate Guide to Upper Michigan Lighthouses by Jerry Roach (Publisher: Bugs Publishing LLC – 2007).] {{ISBN|978-0-9747977-2-4}}. Photography of the light is possible if using a telephoto lens.[http://us-lighthouses.com/displaypage.php?LightID=236 U.S. Lighthouses, Round Island Light.]

A private boat is the best way to see this light close up. Short of that, Sheplers Ferry Service out of Mackinaw City offers periodic lighthouse cruises in the summer season. Its "Eastbound Tour" includes passes by Round Island Light, Bois Blanc Island and Light, Poe Reef Light and Fourteen Foot Shoal Light. Schedules and rates are available from Shepler's.{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/19981205104108/http://www.sheplerswww.com/ Sheplers Ferry Service.]}}[http://www.terrypepper.com/Lights/huron/fourteen/index.htm Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light, Fourteen Foot Shoal Light.]

An expensive but exciting alternative is to charter a seaplane to tour the lights in the straits.[http://www.mightymac.org/seatour.htm Stoke, Keith, A seaplane tour of the Straits].

Round Island Light is one of over 150 past and present lighthouses in Michigan. Michigan has more lighthouses than any other state. See Lighthouses in the United States.See [http://www.michigan.gov/documents/hal_mhc_shpo_lightmap_50933_7.pdf Map of Michigan Lighthouse] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080114191657/http://www.michigan.gov/documents/hal_mhc_shpo_lightmap_50933_7.pdf |date=2008-01-14 }} in PDF Format. See also [http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080520/SPECIAL01/80519001 Detroit News, Interactive map on Michigan lighthouses.]

This lighthouse, with Biddle's Point on Mackinac Island, forms the finish line for the annual Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac, run since 1898.

The lighthouse was prominently featured in the 1980 movie Somewhere in Time.

The light's location makes it "somewhat of a wilderness" but it has been depicted in sculptures [http://www.harbourlights.com/catalog/2005/round_island_mi_OE.htm Harbour lights on Round Island Light.] and even bird houses.[http://www.songbirdgarden.com/store/Scripts/prodList.asp%3Fidcategory%3D80%26curPage%3D27%26sortField%3Ddescription Birdhouse of Round Island.] Because of its picturesque color and form and its location near Mackinac Island (in the path of passing ferries)[http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=838 Lighthouse Friends, Round Island lights.] and the Mackinac Bridge, it is often the subject of photographs,[http://www.terrypepper.com/Lights/huron/roundisland/roundisland04.htm Photograph, Schooner passing Round Island Light around 1900 (at Seeing the Light, courtesy of Michigan State Archives).] and drawings.[http://home.rochester.rr.com/mjm/light2.html Mulgrew, Marilyn, Drawing of Round Island Point Light.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070828141318/http://home.rochester.rr.com/mjm/light2.html |date=August 28, 2007 }} Even needlepoint illustrations have been created.[https://www.dataleap.com/secure/pin/orderpage.htm Needlepoint of Round Island Light.]{{dead link|date=May 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} It has long been the ongoing subject of postcards.[http://www.terrypepper.com/Lights/huron/roundisland/roundisland05.htm Postcard (ca. 1920) of Round Island Light being passed by] Mackinac Island Ferry at Seeing the Light.

A children's book written by Robert A. Lytle and Karen Howell is titled Mackinac Passage: Mystery at Round Island Light.Lytle, Robert A. and Howell, Karen Mackinac Passage: Mystery at Round Island Light (Paperback) (Auburn Hills: Edco, 2001) {{ISBN|0-9712692-3-8}}; {{ISBN|978-0-9712692-3-1}}.

• Lighthouses in the United States

{{reflist|33em}}

• "A Tour of the Lights of the Straits." Michigan History 70 (Sep/Oct 1986), pp. 17–29.
• Brisson, Steven C. (Mackinac State Historic Parks chief curator). Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse: A History & Pictorial Souvenir (1/29/2008).
• "Round Island Passage Light Station." Proceedings of the Merchant Marine Council 5 (Sep 1948), p. 145.

{{commons category|Round Island Light (Michigan)}}

• [http://roundislandlightmichigan.com/ Round Island Lighthouse Preservation Society]
• [http://www.mightymac.org/roundislandlighthouse/ Round Island Lighthouse history and many photos]
• [http://marinas.com/view/lighthouse/942 Aerial photos, Round Island Light, marinas.com.]
• [http://www.lighthousesrus.org/Maps/mapIt.htm?file=GL/MichiganNorth.xml Interactive map of Lights in Northern Lake Michigan, mapped by Google.]
• [http://www.lighthousefriends.com/macstraits.html Lighthouses in the Mackinac Straits.]
• [https://michpics.wordpress.com/2007/10/11/yesterday-today-at-round-island-lighthouse/ Michigan in Pictures, Round Island Light.]

{{Lighthouses of Michigan}}

{{National Register of Historic Places}}

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Category:Lighthouses completed in 1895

Category:Houses completed in 1895

Category:Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan

Category:Lighthouses in Mackinac County, Michigan

Category:Hiawatha National Forest

Category:National Register of Historic Places in Mackinac County, Michigan

Category:Michigan State Historic Sites in Mackinac County