Sand Hills was an active lighthouse on the shore of

Lake Superior Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. Lake Michigan–Huron has a larger combined surface area than Superior, but is normally considered tw ...

is on private property and is currently closed to the public. It is located in Ahmeek in

Keweenaw County Keweenaw County (, ) is a county in the western Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 2,046, making it Michigan's least populous county. It is also the state's largest county by total ...

in the

Keweenaw Peninsula The Keweenaw Peninsula (, ) is a peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. Part of the greater landmass of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Upper Peninsula, the Keweenaw Peninsula projects about northeasterly into Lake Superior, forming Keweena ...

, which is the northern part of the

Upper Peninsula The Upper Peninsula of Michigan—also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. or Yoop—is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula b ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. It was listed in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1994.

History

From 1857 to 1908, Eagle River Light was the only lighthouse between the

Keweenaw Waterway The Keweenaw Waterway is a partly natural, partly artificial waterway which cuts across the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan; it separates Copper Island from the mainland. Parts of the waterway are variously known as the Keweenaw Waterway, Portage ...

and Eagle Harbor Light. With the end of the copper boom in the 1870s the

Eagle River, Michigan Eagle River is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Keweenaw County. Its population was 65 at the 2020 census, which makes it by far the least-populated county sea ...

harbor started to decay. "By the 1890s, it seemed the only ship coming into the harbor was the lighthouse service tender." It was recommended to build a new lighthouse at Sand Hills where most of the lake traffic passing and to decommission Eagle River. A lighthouse at Sand Hills was authorized by Congress in 1893, but no funds were allocated for its construction. Meanwhile, the Eagle River Light was decommissioned and sold in 1908, leaving no navigation light in the area. Sand Hills Light was finally commissioned in 1917, in part as a response to a number of ships that had run aground on the nearby Sawtooth Reef since the dismantling of the light at Eagle River. Sand Hills is about halfway between Eagle Harbor Light and

Ontonagon, Michigan Ontonagon ( ) is a village in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,285 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Ontonagon County, and is the only incorporated place within the county. The village is loca ...

. The lighthouse was completed in May 1919 and was in service for 20 years as a manned

aid to navigation In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, foreign aid, economic aid or foreign assistance) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another. The ...

operated by 3 keepers. The site includes an oil house, garage,

barracks Barracks are buildings used to accommodate military personnel and quasi-military personnel such as police. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word 'soldier's tent', but today barracks ar ...

building (1916, and used in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and a

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

breakwater Breakwater may refer to: * Breakwater (structure), a structure for protecting a beach or harbour Places * Breakwater, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia * Breakwater Island, Antarctica * Breakwater Islands, Nunavut, Canada * ...

(1917). The station originally had a Fourth Order bullseye lens lighted by an oil vapor lamp, which was visible for .Wobser, David & Colt, Edin, Sand Hills Lighthouse, at

boatnerd.com The Boatnerd corporation is a registered not-for-profit corporation intended to spread information about vessels that ply the North American Great Lakes. Services The organization holds annual festivals at sites of interest to those interes ...

. In 1939, the Coast Guard assumed responsibility for the Lighthouse and automated its use, eliminating the need for keepers. In 1942, it was converted to a wartime Coast Guard training facility, housing and schooling roughly 200 trainees at a time. In 1943 it was closed as a training location and reverted to being simply a lighthouse. It continued as an active lighthouse until 1954, when it was decommissioned, in part due to improvements in weather forecasting and the adoption of radar. It stayed empty and idle through the next few years, finally being liquidated and sold at public auction in 1958 for $26,000 to H. Donald Bliss, an insurance agent from the Detroit area. In 1961, it was sold again to Bill Frabotta, a Detroit photographer and artist who used the fog station as a summer cottage. In 1992, Mr. Frabotta began a comprehensive 3 year rebuilding project, and along with his wife, Mary, converted the entire facility into a premier Bed and Breakfast Inn, which after a long successful run closed permanently in 2018 and sold in 2019 to local Eagle River resident, Edward “Bud” Cole, owner of the Eagle River Lighthouse, which is the older sister to the Sand Hills Lighthouse. Edward “Bud” Cole is an international businessman and a historical preservationist with a family lineage in the Keweenaw going back to the 1850s. Mr. Cole also owns and stewards the Eagle River Lighthouse and several other historically significant buildings in the historic town of Eagle River, Michigan along with over 1000 contiguous acres surrounding Sand Hills Lighthouse and over 4000 acres of the Eagle River Corridor. Mr. Cole, currently President of Fender Music Asia Pacific since 2014, lives between Tokyo, Japan and Eagle River, Michigan. The original fourth order

Fresnel lens A Fresnel lens ( ; ; or ) is a type of composite compact lens (optics), lens which reduces the amount of material required compared to a conventional lens by dividing the lens into a set of concentric annular sections. The simpler Dioptrics, d ...

is on display at

Dossin Great Lakes Museum The Dossin Great Lakes Museum is an historical maritime museum in Detroit, Michigan. Located on The Strand on Belle Isle Park along the Detroit River, this museum places special interest on Detroit's role on national and regional maritime histor ...

in Detroit. Sand Hills Light is the "twin" of the ill-fated 1940

Scotch Cap Light The Scotch Cap Light is a series of lighthouses located on the southwest corner of Unimak Island in Alaska. It was the first station established on the outside coast of Alaska. History The Scotch Cap Light was built in 1903 as a 45-foot (14 meter ...

on Alaska's

Unimak Island Unimak Island (, ) is the largest island in the Aleutian Islands chain of the U.S. state of Alaska. Geography It is the easternmost island in the Aleutians and, with an area of , the 9th largest island in the United States and the 134th larges ...

.Sand Hills Light Bed and Breakfast, Exploring the North.
/ref> Scotch Cap Light was destroyed on April 1, 1946 when a massive

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...

struck the station, destroying it and killing its five-man crew, the worst disaster to ever befall a land-based Coast Guard light station.

Getting there

The Lighthouse is located in Ahmeek, Michigan and is closed to the public at this time.Anderson, Kraig, Lighthouse Friends, Big Bay Point Lighthouse.
/ref> The lighthouse is privately owned. The grounds, lighthouse, and property are closed to the public.

References

External links

* *
Aerial photograph, Sand Hills Light, marinas.com.

* {{authority control Lighthouses completed in 1919 Houses completed in 1919 Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan Lighthouses in Keweenaw County, Michigan Bed and breakfasts in Michigan National Register of Historic Places in Keweenaw County, Michigan

History

Getting there

See also

References

External links