The Seul Choix Light is a lighthouse located in the northwest corner of

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that ...

Schoolcraft County, Michigan Schoolcraft County ( ) is a county located in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 8,047, making it Michigan's fourth-least populous county. The county seat is Manistique, which lies alon ...

. The station was established in 1892 with a temporary light, and this light started service in 1895, and was fully automated in 1972. It is an active

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. Ai ...

. There is now a museum at the light and both the building and the grounds are open fo
visitors
from Memorial Day until the middle of October.
/ref>

History

This location is the only harbor of refuge along a treacherous stretch of coast. Its French name is "only choice", suggesting that it was used as a refuge by the early French traders in this area. Local references state that the correct pronunciation is "Sis-shwa", assumed to be the common name used by both the French

Voyageurs The voyageurs (; ) were 18th and 19th century French Canadians who engaged in the transporting of furs via canoe during the peak of the North American fur trade. The emblematic meaning of the term applies to places (New France, including the ...

and the Native Americans with whom they traded. In the 1880s, there was increased maritime traffic between the harbors on Lake Michigan's western shore and Green Bay on the one hand, and the

Straits of Mackinac The Straits of Mackinac ( ; french: Détroit de Mackinac) are the short waterways between the U.S. state of Michigan's Upper and Lower Peninsulas, traversed by the Mackinac Bridge. The main strait is wide with a maximum depth of , and connect ...

on the other. Although the St. Helena Island Light marked the western entry into the Straits, and

Poverty Island Light The Poverty Island Light is a light house located on Poverty Island in northwestern Lake Michigan, south of Garden Peninsula. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005 as the Poverty Island Light Station. History In 18 ...

lighted the entrance to the Bays de Noc, there were no lighthouses to aid mariners navigating a dark stretch of coastline on the southern shore of Michigan's

Upper Peninsula The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – 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 by ...

. The navigation season along this shoreline often began and ended with treacherous storms. Waves would build as they traversed the lake, making the shelter a matter of life and death. Thus, mariners would seek shelter on the

leeward Windward () and leeward () are terms used to describe the direction of the wind. Windward is ''upwind'' from the point of reference, i.e. towards the direction from which the wind is coming; leeward is ''downwind'' from the point of reference ...

side of points protruding into the lake along this stretch of unlighted shore. The

United States Lighthouse Board The United States Lighthouse Board was the second agency of the U.S. federal government, under the Department of Treasury, responsible for the construction and maintenance of all lighthouses and navigation aids in the United States, between 18 ...

sought to mark the sheltering harbor, and provide a visual

waypoint A waypoint is an intermediate point or place on a route or line of travel, a stopping point or point at which course is changed, the first use of the term tracing to 1880. In modern terms, it most often refers to coordinates which specify one's posi ...

between the two existing lights. After considerable investigation and delay, the result was the building of this lighthouse. It also included a separate

fog horn A foghorn or fog signal is a device that uses sound to warn vehicles of navigational hazards such as rocky coastlines, or boats of the presence of other vessels, in foggy conditions. The term is most often used in relation to marine transport. Wh ...

building, and a life-saving station. Although it was built two decades later, the design of this light is similar to the Au Sable Light which was designed by Orlando M. Poe, which also resembles the Grosse Point Light The building is designed in Italianate architecture. The original optic was a fixed third-order Henry-LePaute

Fresnel lens A Fresnel lens ( ; ; or ) is a type of composite compact lens developed by the French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel (1788–1827) for use in lighthouses. It has been called "the invention that saved a million ships." The design allows the ...

. After its removal in 1973, it was housed in the Steamship Valley Camp Museum in

Sault Ste. Marie Sault Ste. Marie is a cross-border region of Canada and the United States located on St. Marys River, which drains Lake Superior into Lake Huron. Founded as a single settlement in 1668, Sault Ste. Marie was divided in 1817 by the establishment of ...

, but is now in a private collection according to a sign in the keeper's dwelling.Anderson, Kraig, Lighthouse Friends, Seul Choix Light.
/ref> When the light was automated, the original lens was removed and an aerobeacon was emplaced The light was replaced with a

DCB-224 An aerobeacon is a light assembly used to create a fixed or flashing signal visible over long distances. It consists of a high intensity electric lamp mounted with a focusing device in a cylindrical housing, which usually is rotated on a vertical ...

aero beacon An aerodrome beacon or rotating beacon or aeronautical beacon is a beacon installed at an airport or aerodrome to indicate its location to aircraft pilots at night. An aerodrome beacon is mounted on top of a towering structure, often a control ...

manufactured by the

Carlisle & Finch Carlisle & Finch is a manufacturer of nautical equipment founded in 1893 or 1894 in Cincinnati, Ohio, where, , it still has its headquarters. The company's main products through its entire history have been searchlights, mostly for marine appl ...

Company. In this configuration, its characteristic is a white flash every six seconds, which is visible for a distance of in clear weather conditions, like the original lens. In 1973, the Coast Guard closed the station, and left the automated light unmanned. Putting aside questions of nostalgia, aesthetics, or appreciation for the engineering of a bygone era (as exemplified by the Fresnel lens), this iteration of lighthouse illumination is itself incredibly effective, and an endangered remnant of another bygone era. The site includes two brick oil houses, a workshop,

barn A barn is an agricultural building usually on farms and used for various purposes. In North America, a barn refers to structures that house livestock, including cattle and horses, as well as equipment and fodder, and often grain.Allen ...

cistern A cistern (Middle English ', from Latin ', from ', "box", from Greek ', "basket") is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by ...

lighthouse keeper A lighthouse keeper or lightkeeper is a person responsible for tending and caring for a lighthouse, particularly the light and lens in the days when oil lamps and clockwork mechanisms were used. Lighthouse keepers were sometimes referred to as ...

's house, converted

boathouse A boathouse (or a boat house) is a building especially designed for the storage of boats, normally smaller craft for sports or leisure use. describing the facilities These are typically located on open water, such as on a river. Often the boats ...

(now a garage), a second keepers house, two

outhouse An outhouse is a small structure, separate from a main building, which covers a toilet. This is typically either a pit latrine or a bucket toilet, but other forms of dry (non-flushing) toilets may be encountered. The term may also be used ...

s, and a dock. On July 19, 1984, the site was listed in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

, Reference #84001846 as Seul Choix Pointe Light Station (U.S. Coast Guard/Great Lakes TR). In 1987 it was also listed on the state registry.

Current status

The lighthouse is operated by the Gulliver Historical Society, in cooperation with the

Michigan Department of Natural Resources The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is the agency of the state of Michigan charged with maintaining natural resources such as state parks, state forests, and recreation areas. It is governed by a director appointed by the Governor ...

. It is open to the public and tours are available (including climbing the tower), which is "relatively rare for an active aid to navigation." On display are the

fog signal A foghorn or fog signal is a device that uses sound to warn vehicles of navigational hazards such as rocky coastlines, or boats of the presence of other vessels, in foggy conditions. The term is most often used in relation to marine transport. Wh ...

and a very old

dugout canoe A dugout canoe or simply dugout is a boat made from a hollowed tree. Other names for this type of boat are logboat and monoxylon. ''Monoxylon'' (''μονόξυλον'') (pl: ''monoxyla'') is Greek – ''mono-'' (single) + '' ξύλον xylon'' ( ...

which was found on site. There are also "unique copper moldings around some of the interior door frames... a

are Are commonly refers to: * Are (unit), a unit of area equal to 100 m2 Are, ARE or Åre may also refer to: Places * Åre, a locality in Sweden * Åre Municipality, a municipality in Sweden **Åre ski resort in Sweden * Are Parish, a municipa ...

decorative touch... in lighthouse dwellings."Wobser, David; Woodward, James; and Shook, Jeff, ''Seul Choix Light''

Boatnerd The boatnerd corporation, a registered not for profit corporation, circulates information about vessels that ply the North American Great Lakes. When Acheson Ventures provided space for a headquarters for the organization in their Maritime Center ...

. The lighthouse is in the end stage its historical restoration, being performed by National Restoration, Inc. Grounds are open year-round, and the light and museum is open from

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...

until October 15. It is also said to be haunted by the old lightkeeper, Joeseph William Townshed.

Location

The light is located at the tip of Seul Choix Pointe on the shore of

in southern Mueller Township, at the end of Co. Rd. 431/John Goudreau Road southeast of Gulliver, Michigan near Port Inland, about east of

Manistique Manistique, formerly Monistique, is the only city and county seat of Schoolcraft County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 2,828. The city borders the adjacent Manistique Township, but the two are a ...

Popular culture

The light has been the subject of drawings and

needlepoint Needlepoint is a type of canvas work, a form of embroidery in which yarn is stitched through a stiff open weave canvas. Traditionally needlepoint designs completely cover the canvas. Although needlepoint may be worked in a variety of stitches, m ...

illustrations.

Folk singer Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has be ...

Carl Behrend recorded an album entitled ''The Ballad of Seul Choix Lighthouse''.

References

External links

* *
Seul Choix Point Light and Museum

Aerial photos, Seul Choix Light, marinas.com.

* ttp://www.lighthousefriends.com/macstraits.html Lighthouses in the Mackinac Straits, Lighthouse Friends. {{authority control Lighthouses completed in 1895 Houses completed in 1895 Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan Museums in Schoolcraft County, Michigan Lighthouse museums in Michigan National Register of Historic Places in Schoolcraft County, Michigan