This cache is part of the Emmet County History Quest Geo-Trail. When discovering the historic places in Emmet County as you travel from cache to cache, you will need to answer a specific question on your passport. Information and the passport can be downloaded from the Emmet County web site http://www.emmetcounty.org/geocache/
Once you have completed 20 of the caches in this tour, take your passport to Emmet County Building, Suite 178 or mail the passport to Beth Piehl, Emmet County Building, Suite 178, 200 Division St., Petoskey, MI 49770 to receive a collectable souvenir tag for this series.
On a clear day, four offshore lighthouses are visible. 7 miles northwest is Skillagalee or Ile aux Galets, located on a dangerous gravel shoal- it extends almost two miles to the east and half a mile to the northwest- a hazard to navigation, ships, and sailors. The islet and lighthouse were occupied by lighthouse keepers from 1850 until 1969, With only the tower left standing, this still active aid to navigation is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Just north of Skillagalee is Gray’s Reef, a massive, two-story concrete based light station. The white colored steel 65-foot tower rises from the center of the building and has a black parapet and lantern. The light was built in 1936 and was automated in 1976. Today the station is not manned, except for once each summer when the Coast Guard uses it to monitor the vessels participating in the Chicago to Mackinac Yacht Race.
Built in 1851 to replace a wooden lightship, the Waugoshance Shoal Light was abandoned in 1912 and replaced by White Shoal and Gray's Reef Lights. The structure was used for artillery practice during World War II. It is amazing that anything remains. This long abandoned light is only viewable by boat.
White Shoal Light, located in a northeast direction, was built in 1910 to replace Lightship No. 56 that had marked the shoal since 1891. The station is built on a concrete base. Construction of the light was considered a major engineering feat because of its isolated location. The station contains a fog signal and keeper's quarters. The quarters were used until 1976 when the light was automated. The distinctive red and white spiral candy-cane-painted tower has a red lantern room. The light is the only red/white barber pole striped lighthouse in the United States.