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The Lighthouses
of Traverse City
Sentinels of the Golden
Coast of Michigan
Coast of Michigan
Quick! Which of the 50 states has the most lighthouses? Maine? North Carolina? California? Florida?
Answer: None of the above. It's the state of Michigan, hundreds of miles from the nearest seashore, but with more than 3,000 miles of coastline – more than any other state except Alaska. During the 19th century Michigan's "inland seas" were among the most heavily traveled waterways in the world, and more than 130 lighthouses were built to warn mariners away from their numerous beaches, shoals and headlands.
Today that busy time of sloops and schooners is only a distant memory. But the lighthouses of Michigan still stand watch, exerting a powerful attraction on those who treasure the romance and danger of the Age of Sail. Each year, growing numbers of lighthouse enthusiasts make their way to the Great Lakes State – and particularly to the region around Traverse City.
Thanks to its location on the shores of Grand Traverse Bay near the once-bustling Manitou Passage (a time-saving but frequently hazardous route between the mainland and the mysterious Manitou Islands) Traverse City is a convenient base for exploring five historic lighthouses, all located in a relatively compact area. Best of all, four of the five can be easily visited: three are open for tours, and one even allows visitors to spend a week or two in residence as volunteer lighthouse keepers.
"One thing that's great about those lights is that they're accessible," says Michigan lighthouse expert and lecturer Dianna Stampfler. "The lights are all true lighthouses as well – unlike other areas where the keeper's residence was on shore somewhere and the light was at the end of the pier."
The most easily accessible of the Traverse City area's lighthouses is the Grand Traverse Lighthouse. Located at the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula, near the village of Northport, it is one of the oldest lighthouses on the Great Lakes, guiding ships through the northern entrance to the Manitou Passage for 150 years.
