![]() The Lighthouse Board requested $8,000 in 1870 for a wooden tower, a bell, and 1,200 feet of elevated walkway for the pier, and these were put in place during 1871. After the federal government extended the pier between 18, the light was moved to the new pierhead, but it was later discontinued, as it could not be reached during heavy gales. To accommodate these ferries, the railroad company built a pier at Grand Haven on which it maintained its own light. The Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad established a line from Detroit to Grand Haven in 1858 to link with its ferry service providing cross-lake service to Milwaukee. This work was performed during the winter to avoid having to erect a temporary tower for the light. In 1868, the tower was raised four feet and equipped with a new lantern room. A bull’s-eye panel revolved around the fixed fourth-order lens in the lantern room to produce a white flash every ninety seconds. The tower stood just over twenty-four feet tall, but the bluff gave the light a focal plane of seventy feet above the lake. The lighthouse consisted of a circular tower attached to a six-room, one-and-a-half-story dwelling, both of which were built of rubblestone. Work on a replacement lighthouse commenced in 1854 on a bluff above the original site, and the light was placed in operation the following year. A wall in the dwelling collapsed early the next morning, and the tower followed suit later that day. Though a timber wall had been built to protect the property, on the night of December 17, 1852, it gave way, allowing storm-driven waves to pummel the lighthouse. It wasn’t poor materials or workmanship that doomed the lighthouse, but, as feared, shore erosion. Pier lights before rear tower was painted red in 1917 and metal walkway was installed in 1918. The stone lighthouse stood thirty feet tall, and in 1848, four oil lamps, backed by fourteen-inch reflectors, were being used in its lantern room to produce a fixed white light. Nehemiah Merritt was hired as the light’s first keeper in August 1839. Lyon noted, however, that much of the bank in front of the lighthouse had been washed away and that during storms the water came within thirty feet of the structures. Having heard of the unfavorable report of Lieutenant Homans, the leading citizens of Grand Haven sent a letter to Trueman Lyon in October, 1838, stating that the materials used were of good quality and the work was done in a “very permanent and substantial manner.” These citizens and Mr. The stone used to complete the dwelling and tower was quarried in Green Bay, while the stone steps came from Cleveland. Only the foundation of the dwelling had been finished during Homans’ visit, and the contractors were not present to explain that the material on site had been condemned as inferior. Lyon to examine the lighthouse, and he found that Homans’ report was incorrect. Homans reported to Stephen Pleasonton, the overseer for the country’s lighthouses, that inferior materials were being used, and “the work was on par with the materials.” Pleasonton sent Trueman H. Rogers and Burnett of Milwaukee were hired to construct a stone dwelling and lighthouse near the mouth of Grand River, and during the summer of 1838, Lieutenant James T. The channel at the mouth only requires to be straightened a little so as to render it more easy of entrance. ![]() My examinations here were of a limited nature, but I am inclined to think a small amount would make this by far the best harbor on Lake Michigan. Of course, I did not hesitate to report in favor of a light here. It is the only safe shelter for large vessels on the east shore south of the Manitou islands. This is by far the largest river that empties into Lake Michigan, having no less than two fathoms water on the bar at its mouth. Grand river is 40 miles north of Kalamazoo. ![]() Pendergrast gave a glowing endorsement for a lighthouse at Grand Haven in 1837: The first permanent settlers arrived at Grand River on Novemfrom Mackinac Island, under the leadership of Reverend William Montague Ferry, and the following year, the settlement was platted and named Grand Haven, in recognition of its safe and spacious harbor.Īfter having been appointed by the Board of Navy Commissioners to examine and select sites for lighthouses on the Great Lakes, Lieutenant G.J.
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