The Alpena Light, also known as the Thunder Bay River Lighthouse or Alpena Breakwater Light, is a lighthouse on Lake Huron near Alpena, Michigan. Standing on the north breakwater of Alpena Harbor, the light marks the entrance to the Thunder Bay River from Thunder Bay. The current lighthouse, built in 1914, replaced earlier wooden structures which had been in use since 1877 and 1888. The current light is a weather-protected structure on a steel frame. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2006, and the state inventory list the same year.
History and description
The history of the Alpena Lights closely follows the history of the local timber industry. Shipping in and out of the Thunder Bay River has historically concentrated on logs, cut lumber, and rolls of paper and newsprint. The first petition for a lighthouse at the mouth of the Thunder Bay River, from a consortium of men active in the local lumber industry, came in 1857. Other pleas followed
Congress partly responded to these appeals in 1867 with an appropriation of $10,000 to build a light at nearby Trowbridge Point. After further appeals directly to the United States Lighthouse Board, the Board advised Congress to move the location of the prospective light to the mouth of the Thunder Bay River. This recommendation was a key element in the final location of the Alpena Light. Congress approved the recommendation in 1868.
First and second lights
In August 1875, the first Alpena Light was established as a temporary 25-foot (7.6 m)-tall "pole light" approximately ten miles off shore.
The 1877 light before being destroyed by fire
In 1877, a second light was built from a timber design of Major Godfrey Weitzel. It was a brown wooden pyramidal tower, complete with a Sixth Order Fresnel lens. In July 1888 it burned with much of the town. After it burnt, keeper E.G. Howard—who had managed to save the keeper's house from the conflagration—again put up a temporary pole with a light. The original fog bell from the "1870 light" [sic] is on display at the Huron Lights Museum north of town.
Current (third) light
The rebuilt 1914 light on its original crib base
The current Alpena Light (1914), the third light of that name, is thought to be the only lighthouse of this type in the U.S. Russ Rowlett, who maintains the online Lighthouse Directory, flatly states that: "this tower is the only surviving example of its design." However, the structure of this light is similar in concept to Lake Superior's Chequamegon Point Light. There are also skeletal towers of various other designs in the western Great Lakes.
Originally painted black, its daymark function was enhanced in 1950 by painting it bright red.
The current lens was installed circa 1996. The original Fresnel lens is presently located at the Grand Traverse Lighthouse.
From 1878 to 1965 there were five lighthouse keepers at this location.
The Alpena Light fog horn has gone through different iterations. In 1891, there was a fog bell with an automated striking mechanism, which was upgraded in 1920 to an electric alarm, and in 1932 to the current modern automated fog horn.
The Alpena Light onshore complex once included a brick oil storage building, built in 1896; it was removed after the light's electrification. The light was automated in 1974.