For eons, the Straits of Mackinac have proven to be a life-supporting waterway connecting the great lakes Huron and Michigan, and, in more recent times, supporting trade from the Eastern Seaboard to the Midwest.

Calm waters welcomed Native Americans, early European explorers and later immigrants, tourists and shipping companies to the Straits, only to turn swiftly into an angry, deadly cauldron of fast currents, towering waves and devastating winds.

Primitive technology and resources often made travel on the lakes treacherous for explorers, voyageurs, settlers, tourists and sailors, and, even for modern freighters.

In the early 1850s, investors, industrialists, land barons and the staff of the federal Department of the Coast Guard realized measures were needed to make travel by boat safer throughout the lakes and to encourage economic growth.

The Great Lakes and inland waterways were the primary “highways” of the time.

Numerous lighthouses were needed all over the Great Lakes to warn sailors about hazards such as sharp points of land, reefs and shallow passages.

The mouth of the Cheboygan River and Cheboygan Point on Duncan Bay near the present-day state park were (and are still) vitally important geographic features for safely navigating the Straits’ southern passageway.

Around 1850, the U.S. Coast Guard got busy. Ports were dredged, including the Cheboygan River, and a vast network of lighthouses was built across Michigan in the water and on the shore to aid safe navigation.

The first lighthouse near Cheboygan was located at “Lighthouse Point” on Duncan Bay east of the city. It was lit in 1851. The 40-foot-tall brick tower was equipped with a state-of-the-art fifth order Fresnel lens. It was one of the first Fresnel lens used on the Great Lakes. When high waters threatened the tower eight years later, a new tower was built further away from the shore. The rare Fresnel lens was re-used in the new structure. Today, ruins of the original lighthouse can still be seen at the Cheboygan State Park.

In 1880, an awesome lighthouse was constructed near downtown. Using a range light (located on a tower further down the river from the lighthouse), sailors could line up the lighthouse and range light so they could be sure they’re safely sailing into the dredged river channel.

Volunteers maintain the range light, but it not used today. It stands downtown as another proud reminder of Cheboygan’s rich maritime history.

In 1930, the Fourteen Foot Shoal Light was built offshore of Lighthouse Point in the Straits. The light was desperately needed because the passage between Cheboygan and Bois Blanc Island was only fourteen-feet-deep on average.

About the same time, the Cheboygan Main Light was closed and decommissioned. Severe weather and vandals took a toll on the abandoned station. The Coast Guard tore it down in the 1940s.

Today, you can get to them from the park by walking a little over a mile through the woods or along the beach. Following the blue trail through the forest will take you right to them. Alternately, walk along the beach until you see a bench and a path. The path will take you to the almost two-century-old ruins.

In 1884, a lighthouse tower was constructed on top of a crib at the end of the newly dredged channel at the mouth of the river. The foundation was oak.

The light was automated in 1920.

After decades of disuse, the Coast Guard decided to demolish the structure. They were successful and the crib light was moved to Gordon Turner Park at the mouth of the river and volunteers restored it.

In 1984, city leaders convinced the Coast Guard to relocate the tower to the foot of the pier in Gordon Turner Park at the end of North Huron St., where it sits to this day. If you would like to see the interior of this lighthouse, volunteers at the Cheboygan Front Range light will be happy to give tours.

Why are so many people fascinated by lighthouses? Perhaps, lighthouses are a testament to the many brave lighthouse keepers and the heroic rescue missions they selflessly undertook to save countless people from roiling waters. Perhaps, with their kerosene-fueled flames and intricate reflective lenses, lighthouses remind people of much simpler times, vestiges of our lake history that still stand among us today.