Mission Point Light is a lighthouse located in the U.S. state of Michigan at the end of Old Mission Point, a peninsula jutting into Grand Traverse Bay 17 miles (27 km) north of Traverse City. When it was built in 1870, it was an exact copy of the Mama Juda Lighthouse (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 one half stories tall. However, its placement on a sand bank fourteen 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. Maintaining the dune and protecting it and the lighthouse from the deleterious effects of wave action has been a constant struggle.
For 67 years the light served to warn mariners about the shoals off the point. 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 began on a pier for the new light in 19 feet (5.8 m) of water, about 2 miles (3.2 km) northwest of Mission Point. The light ran on batteries. It was on a 36-foot (11 m) tall tower, and its focal plane of 52 feet (16 m) help make it visible for 13 miles (21 km). It had a 30 second dwell time between flashes, in order to conserve power.
Famously, the lighthouse stands a few hundred yards south of the 45th parallel north, halfway between the North Pole and the Equator. The lighthouse was deactivated in 1933 and purchased by the State of Michigan. There are a pair of signs that denote its location on the parallel, and it is one of 29 places (six are in Michigan) in the U.S.A. where such signs are known to exist.
Read more about Mission Point Light: Current Status and Activities
Famous quotes containing the words mission, point and/or light:
“Perhaps the mission of those who love mankind is to make people laugh at the truth, to make truth laugh, because the only truth lies in learning to free ourselves from insane passion for the truth.”
—Umberto Eco (b. 1932)
“I am the kind of a woman that likes to move on mentally from point to point, and I like for my man to be there way ahead of me. Then if he is strong and honest, it goes on from there. Good looks are not essential, just extra added attraction.”
—Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960)
“Lady of light, I would admit a dream
To you, if you would take it in your hand.
Will you not let it in a gentle stream
Of living blood? How else may I remand
Your light if not as pulse upon your ear?”
—Allen Tate (1899–1979)