SwtM - Point Iroquois Lighthouse Traditional Cache

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Hidden : 5/9/2019
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size: regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:




[2012 series / Michigan Lighthouses] and [2016 series / Historic Landmarks]
Point Iroquois Light is a lighthouse on a Chippewa County bluff in Michigan. Point Iroquois and its light mark the division line between Whitefish Bay and the western end of the St. Marys River, the connection between Lake Superior and other Great Lakes.

Point Iroquois includes a larger geographic area than the light station site. It was named for the Iroquois warriors massacred there by the Ojibwe in 1662. Native Algonkians called the point "Nadouenigoning", composed of the words "Nadone" (Iroquois) and "Akron" (bone).

In 1853 Congress, which had approved the construction of the first Soo Locks on the St. Mary's River, appropriated $5,000 for the construction of what would be the first lighthouse at Point Iroquois. In 1855-1856 the United States Lighthouse Board implemented this appropriation and built a wood and rubble stone lighthouse at the Point; this aid to navigation commenced operations on June 18, 1856. The first Point Iroquois light was a 45-foot-tall rubble stone tower with a wooden lantern deck, outfitted with a flashing white fourth order Fresnel lens.

However, as early as 1867, only eleven years after the first light went into operation, a government inspector was questioning the construction quality of the first light station and preparing the ground for its replacement. Furthermore, following the American Civil War, the United States Lighthouse Board had entered a lighthouse (and life saving station) building boom on the Great Lakes.

In 1870, the second and current Point Iroquois Light was constructed, this time at an estimated cost of $18,000. The present Cape Cod style white brick lighthouse was built and ran continuously for 93 years, guiding ships in and out of the Soo Locks. It has a 65-foot tower height, and a focal plane that is variously reported as 68 or 72 feet. The new Light and keepers' quarters became visual focuses of the shoreline lumber community of Brimley, Michigan.

The station was deactivated in 1962, replaced by the Canadian operated Gros Cap Reefs Light, an unmanned buoy-type beacon in the St. Marys River channel. In 1963, the original lens was sent to the Smithsonian Institution. A fourth order Fresnel lens taken from Martin Reef Light is on display in the Lighthouse keeper's house.

In 1975 the Point Iroquois Light was listed on the National Register of Historic Places Reference #75000940. It is also on the state list. It is considered to be iconic, and has been the subject of memorabilia.
Visit 14 geocaches in the SwtM series. At each geocache collect a letter and number combination. Insert them into the phrase: FiTS LIKe A GlOVE
Use the coordinates from the phrase to find the final geocache and become a Mitten Master
Tannery Falls S.S. Carl D. Bradley Fort Gratiot Lighthouse
Norway to Wakefield Gordy Howe Intl. Bridge ElvisFest
S.S. Chicora Jacob's Falls Fox Theater
Point Iriquois Lighthouse S.S. Badger ArtPrize
Grand Island Calumet Mitten Master

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