Fourteen Foot Shoal Light

Fourteen Foot Shoal Light
Tower
The light in 2001 (note the solar panels that provide the current power)

Location	Lake Huron, Michigan
Coordinates	45°40′47.3″N 84°26′6″W / 45.679806°N 84.43500°W / 45.679806; -84.43500
Constructed	1929
Foundation	Concrete Crib
Construction	Reinforced concrete and steel
Automated	1930
Height	36 feet (11 m)^[1]
Shape	square building; frustum of a cone tower
Markings	White with red trim
Heritage	National Register of Historic Places listed place
Fog signal	HORN: 1 blast ev 15 s (2s bl)^[4] Diaphone

Light
First lit	1930
Focal height	55 feet (17 m)^[2]^[3]
Lens	Fourth-order Fresnel lens^[5] (original), 9.8-inch (250 mm) Tidelands acrylic optic Fresnel lens (current)
Range	9 nautical miles (17 km; 10 mi)^[4]
Characteristic	Occulting W 4 seconds Operates year round.



Fourteen Foot Shoal Light Station
U.S. National Register of Historic Places

NRHP reference No.	05000742^[6]
Added to NRHP	July 27, 2005

The lighthouse at Fourteen Foot Shoal was named to note that the lake is only 14 feet (4.3 m) deep at this point, which is a hazard to navigation, ships and mariners.

This light is located at the northern end of Lake Huron, Michigan, US, where it is necessary for boats heading to Chicago to pass through a narrow strait and still avoid shallow water. The most common path is to go south of Bois Blanc Island (Michigan). In this channel, the Poe Reef Light marks the northern end of the safe channel and the Fourteen Foot Shoal light marks the southern side of the channel.

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History

The United States Lighthouse Service intended from the time of design that this light would be automated (possibly the first such instance)^[7] and operated by radio control^[8] from the nearby Poe Reef Light which is 3.5 miles (5.6 km) away; the keeper's house was never intended to be used as a residence.^[9] In 1925 a temporary acetylene buoy was installed there and construction of the permanent light began in 1929 such that the light could begin operation in 1930.^[10]

The original light was a fourth-order Fresnel lens.^[11] The focal plane is 56 feet (17 m). It now has a 9.8-inch (250 mm) acrylic optic Fresnel lens, and assuming it is properly installed and adjusted, has a maximum visible range of 9 nmi (17 km).^[12] A diaphone fog horn is attached.^[2]

Current status and getting there

It is in U.S. Coast Guard District 9, and is still an active aid to navigation.^[13]

In 2002 the crew of the Cutter USCGC Mackinaw (WAGB-83) painted and refurbished the light.^[14]

The light has been added to the National Register of Historic Places; but is not on the state registry, although it was determined to be eligible by the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office.^[15]

A private boat is, of course, the best way to see this light close up. Short of that, Sheplers Ferry Service out of Mackinaw City offers periodic lighthouse cruises in the summer season. Its "Eastbound Tour" includes passes by Round Island Light, Bois Blanc Island and Light, Poe Reef Light and Fourteen Foot Shoal. Schedules and rates are available from Shepler's.^[10]^[16] Boat narration is provided by the Great Lakes Lightkeepers Association.^[17]

A distant view can be had from the Cheboygan Crib Light^[18] and the Cheboygan State Park.^[17]

On May 15, 2012, the National Park Service made the light available for ownership transfer under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act.^[19]

On September 30, 2017, the GSA ended its public auction transferring ownership to the Lake Huron Lighthouse Preservation Society Inc., a Michigan nonprofit organization managed by Jerry Persons and Joseph Niewiek.

References

^ "Seeing The Light - Lighthouse Tower Heights". September 18, 2000. Archived from the original on September 18, 2000.
^ ^a ^b National Park Service, Maritime Heritage Program, Inventory of Historic Lights, Fourteen Foot Shoal Light.
^ Pepper, Terry. "Database of Focal Heights". Seeing the Light. terrypepper.com. Archived from the original on August 30, 2008.
^ ^a ^b Light List, Volume VII, Great Lakes (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard.
^ Pepper, Terry. "Database of Original Lenses". Seeing the Light. terrypepper.com. Archived from the original on September 18, 2000.
^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009. Archived from the original on July 25, 2008. Retrieved August 3, 2010.
^ "The Lighthouses of Lake Huron". Lighthouses R Us. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
^ Fourteen Foot Shoal Lighthouse at U.S. lighthouses.com.
^ Edin, Colt, and Wobser, David, Fourteen Foot Shoal Light Archived 2008-05-17 at the Wayback Machine at Boatnerd.com.
^ ^a ^b "Seeing The Light - Fourteen Foot Shoal Lighthouse". March 10, 2002. Archived from the original on March 10, 2002.
^ * Michigan Lighthouse Fund, Fourteen Foot Shoal Light. Archived 2011-07-27 at the Wayback Machine
^ 250 mm acrylic optic lens, Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light.
^ "Fourteen Foot Shoal Lighthouse - Sheboygan, MI". www.michiganlights.com.
^ Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Michigan's Eastern Lower Peninsula". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
^ National Park Service, Maritime Heritage Project, Inventory of Historic Lights, Fourteen Foot Shoal Light.
^ Sheplers Ferry Service. Archived 2008-05-17 at the Wayback Machine
^ ^a ^b West Michigan Tourist Association, Fourteen Foot Shoal Light. Archived 2011-07-26 at the Wayback Machine
^ "Fourteen Foot Shoal Lighthouse". LighthouseFriends.
^ "NATIONAL HISTORIC LIGHTHOUSE PRESERVATION ACT NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY – Fourteen Foot Shoal Light" (PDF). U.S. National Park Service.

External links

Media related to Fourteen Foot Shoal Light at Wikimedia Commons
Fourteen Foot Shoal Light on the World List of Lights
Interactive map on Michigan lighthouses. Detroit News
Interactive map, pictures, descriptions of Northern Lake Huron lights.
Lighthouses in the Mackinac Straits.
Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light, Fourteen Foot Shoal Light.

v t e Lighthouses in Michigan
Main: List of lighthouses in the United States
Northern Upper Peninsula	Au Sable Big Bay Point Copper Harbor Copper Harbor Front Range Crisp Point Eagle Harbor Eagle Harbor Range Lights Eagle River Fourteen Mile Point Grand Island East Channel Grand Island Harbor Rear Range Grand Island North Grand Marais Range Lights Granite Island Gull Rock Huron Island Isle Royale Manitou Island Marquette Breakwater Outer Marquette Harbor Mendota (Bete Grise) Munising Front Range Munising Rear Range Ontonagon Ontonagon Harbor West Breakwater Portage River (Jacobsville) Passage Island Presque Isle Harbor Breakwater Light Rock Harbor Rock of Ages Sand Hills Sand Point Light (Baraga) St. Martin Island Stannard Rock Thunder Bay Island Whitefish Point
Southern Upper Peninsula	DeTour Reef Lansing Shoals Manistique East Breakwater Martin Reef Menominee Pier Minneapolis Shoal Naubinway Island Peninsula Point Poverty Island Sand Point Seul Choix Squaw Island St. Martin Island
St. Mary's River	Frying Pan Island Pipe Island Point Iroquois Round Island Light (St. Mary's River) Six Mile Point Range Rear Winter Point Range Front
Portage River/Ship Canal	Keweenaw Waterway Lower Entrance Keweenaw Waterway Upper Entrance Portage Lake Rouleau Point Range Front and Rear Lights
Straits of Mackinac	Bois Blanc McGulpin Point Old Mackinac Point Round Island Round Island Passage St. Helena Island Wawatam
Western Lower Peninsula	Beaver Island Harbor Beaver Island Head Big Sable Point Cedar River Charlevoix Charlevoix South Pier Frankfort Frankfort South Range Grand Haven North Pierhead Grand Haven South Pierhead Entrance Grand Haven South Pierhead Inner Grand Traverse Grays Reef Holland Harbor Ile Aux Galets Little Sable Point Little Traverse Ludington Manistee Pierhead Manning Memorial Mission Point Mission Point (1933) Muskegon Breakwater Muskegon Pier North Manitou Shoal Pentwater North Pierhead Pentwater South Pierhead Point Betsie Portage Lake South Fox Island South Haven South Manitou Island St. Joseph North Pier Inner St. Joseph North Pier Outer Waugoshance White River White Shoal
Eastern Lower Peninsula	Alpena Caseville Harbor Charity Island Cheboygan Crib Cheboygan River Front Range Detroit River Fort Gratiot Forty Mile Point Fourteen Foot Shoal Gibraltar Gravelly Shoal Harbor Beach Lake St. Clair Mariners Memorial Middle Island Miller Memorial New Presque Isle Old Presque Isle Peche Island Rear Range Poe Reef Pointe aux Barques Port Austin Port Sanilac Saginaw Bay Saginaw River Rear Range Spectacle Reef St. Clair Flats Front and Rear Range Light Sturgeon Point Tawas Point Thunder Bay Island Tri-Centennial Light of Detroit William Livingstone Memorial Windmill Point
Historical (lost) lights	Au Sable North Pierhead Belle Isle Clinton River Ecorse Ecorse Range Rear Gibraltar Grassy Island Grassy Island North Channel Range Lights Grassy Island South Channel Range Lights Grosse Ile North Channel Range Lights Grosse Ile South Channel Range Lights Harwood Point East Range Front Kalamazoo River Mama Juda Mama Juda Range Front Manistee Main Middle Lake George Monroe Pier New Buffalo North Manitou Island Saginaw Bay Sand Beach North Entrance East Squaw Point St. Mary's River Lower Range Front Vidal Shoals Channel Range Front and Rear Lights Windmill Point Range Front and Rear Lights
Related	Lightship Huron List of lifesaving stations in Michigan Wixom Lake, Musselman Island lighthouse

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This page was last edited on 4 August 2023, at 15:37

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