Location: 24 mi (39 km) North- West of Marquette, Upper Peninsula Map
Big Bay Point Light is located 24 mi (39 km) North- West of Marquette, Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Big Bay Point Light was constructed in 1896 for guidance across dangerous lake Superior. Today it is the only lighthouse in the country that is also open as a Bed & Breakfast. The allure of Big Bay Point Light is in its long history and alleged haunting by its first keeper. Its story inspired book and a movie Anatomy of a Murder. The most famous haunting at the Big Bay Point Light is the red-haired ghost of William Prior. According to local records he was the first lighthouse keeper at Big Bay point. Unfortunately, he lost his son, Edward, who died of a leg injury and following complications. William Prior vanished in 1901 and his body was found almost a year and a half later hanging from a tree about a mile from the lighthouse. Some suggested that he may have committed suicide. Other claimed that he have been murdered. Although it is somewhat unclear how did a body manage to hang in the tree for so long and how did the coroner manage to identify the body. But the legend persists. It is said that his red-haired ghost has been seen in mirrors, and doors tend to bang in the middle of the night, sounds of footsteps were also credited to the ghost.
The keeper's house consists of 18 rooms in a
52-by-52-foot (16 m × 16 m) two story brick building. The attached
tower is tall enough to place the light 105 feet (32 m) above Lake
Superior. Originally, this housed the keeper (and his family) and an
assistant keeper with family as well. As the country moved to
eight-hour shifts, a frame building with outhouse was built at the
bottom of the hill for a second assistant keeper.
At the time
the light was built the only way to get to and from the aid to
navigation was by water. Those who worked at Big Bay Point were
truly isolated. The keepers' wives not only had to do the usual
housekeeping and food preparation, but also schooling of any
children in residence.
The establishment of a Marine Signal Station at Big
Bay Point was recommended to the Lighthouse Council in 1882 to erect
midway between the Granite Island Lighthouse and the Huron Islands
Lighthouse whose lights are unseen one of the other and the intermediate
section is not lit. A light and fog signal would be a protection for
steamers passing between these points as a number of ships have already
been wrecked at Big Bay Point.
The lighthouse, fitted with a
third-order Fresnel lens, and the fog signal were commissioned on
October 20, 1896. In 1928 the fog-signalling steam whistles were
replaced by a modern pneumatic diaphone. In 1941 the station was
automated, and in 1961 it was deactivated and sold to private owners. In
1990, the original Fresnel lens was recovered and put on display at the
Marquette Maritime Museum. It was returned to service.
Bed and
breakfast
After a period of abandonment of the structure and the lack
of maintenance, a restoration was undertaken and the structure was
resold in 1979. Transformations were carried out with the intention of
converting it into guest rooms. The Big Bay Point Lighthouse
Bed-and-Breakfast was opened in 1986. In 1992 it changed hands again.
Park access and tours of the light (and foghorn building) are available.
The lighthouse is a square red brick tower 20 m
high, with a gallery and a lantern, adjoining a two-storey red brick
gatehouse. The lighthouse is unpainted and the lantern is white with
a red roof.
It emits, at a focal height of 27 m, a white
flash of 0.4 seconds per period of 6 seconds. Its range is 9.6
nautical miles (about 18 km.