Mission Point Lighthouse

Mission Point Light is a lighthouse located in Michigan at the end of Old Mission Point, a peninsula jutting into Grand Traverse Bay 17 miles (27 km) north of Traverse City. It was built in 1870 as an exact copy of the Mama Juda Light (now destroyed), which was built on the Detroit River in 1866. The foundation is natural and emplaced. The wooden structure is painted white with black trim. The square tower is attached to a dwelling. A fixed white Fifth Order Fresnel lens was installed. The building was only one and a half stories tall. However, its placement on a sand bank 14 feet above the lake's surface created a lens focal plane of 47 feet (14 m). It was visible from 13 miles (21 km) at sea. It has been an ongoing struggle to maintain the dune and protect it and the lighthouse from erosion. The light served to warn mariners about the shoals off the point for 63 years. It was a working lighthouse from 1870 to 1933, when it was decommissioned. However, new techniques in offshore construction and the automation of lighthouse illumination made it possible to build a navigation aid on the shoal itself. In 1938, work was completed for the new stationary buoy light in 19 feet (5.8 m) of water, about 2 miles (3.2 km) northwest of Mission Point. The light runs on batteries. It is on a 36-foot (11 m) tall tower, and its focal plane of 52 feet (16 m) makes it visible for 13 miles (21 km). It has a 30-second dwell time between flashes, in order to conserve power. It is still maintaine