East Tawas in Iosco County, Michigan — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
Tawas Lighthouse
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, July 24, 2018
1. Tawas Lighthouse Marker
The point is a “making point.”
Annual Report, U.S. Lighthouse Board, 1873
Throughout its recorded history, blowing, drifting sand has constantly extended Tawas Point. This lighthouse was built in 1876 because the end of the point had moved so far from the original 1853 tower. Workers used stone and bricks from the abandoned lighthouse to fill wooden cribs protecting the new lighthouse - then at the very tip of the point - from Lake Huron's waves. By 1898, the new light was no longer exposed, but “entirely surrounded with made land.”
The Tawas Point light shines with two colors. Its white light can be seen 16 miles out in Lake Huron; its red light, marking the entrance to Tawas Bay, can be seen twelve miles away.
In 2002, the U.S. Coast Guard transferred the lighthouse building to the State of Michigan.
Erected by Michigan History Center and Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Communications • Waterways & Vessels. In addition, it is included in the Lighthouses series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1876.
Location. 44° 15.234′ N, 83° 26.976′ W. Marker is in East Tawas, Michigan
this page online
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 3 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Double Dwelling (a few steps from this marker); Tawas Point Light Station (within shouting distance of this marker); Oil House (within shouting distance of this marker); A New Light on the Horizon (within shouting distance of this marker); Preserving the Light (within shouting distance of this marker); The Changing Shape of Tawas Point (within shouting distance of this marker); Earl T. O’Loughlin (approx. 2.6 miles away); East Tawas Veterans Memorial (approx. 2.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in East Tawas.
Also see . . .
1. Tawas Point Lighthouse. In September 1884, a crib protection, 130 feet long, 10 feet wide, and 4 feet high, was added to the northwest corner of the lighthouse’s existing cribwork and filled with stone and brick cannibalized from the old lighthouse. Additional cribwork protection was added the following year to the north and southwest sides of the station. In 1896, the timber platform around the dwelling and tower was rebuilt, and work began on extending the landing dock 640 feet to reach deeper
Courtesy of Neil Thornton
2. Marker detail: Tawas Point Light Station circa 1880s
Note: water around wooden "crib" protecting the new lighthouse.
2. Tawas Point Lighthouse: Seeing the Light. By virtue of the prevailing Northeast wind, Ottawa Point had forever been in a state of evolution. Driven by wave and wind, sand from the lake-bed and the shoreline was continually deposited onto the end of the Point, changing its configuration. Over the years since the construction of the Light, this natural reshaping had continued unabated, lengthening the Point by almost a mile, and leaving the old lighthouse "high and dry," three quarters of a mile from the end of the point it was designed to mark. (Submitted on October 1, 2018, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, July 24, 2018
3. Tawas Lighthouse Marker (wide view; Tawas Lighthouse north side in background)
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, July 24, 2018
4. Tawas Lighthouse (north side view; marker visible on right)
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, July 24, 2018
5. Tawas Lighthouse (west side; note: dry, grassy lawn where lake approached foundation in 1880)
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, July 24, 2018
6. Tawas Lighthouse (wide view)
Credits. This page was last revised on December 8, 2020. It was originally submitted on September 29, 2018, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 237 times since then and 18 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on October 1, 2018, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.
