Michigan Lighthouses

The only guide to Michigan lighthouses that includes maps and directions. Also includes a black and white photo of each light, plus concise text that combines color description, fascinating history, and practical advice. A must-have resource for anyone who wants to find and photograph lighthouses in Michigan.

Travel Michigan’s coast—and into the state’s history—with otherworldly tales of the spirits of those who sought to keep its waters safe. Michigan has more lighthouses than any other state, with more than 120 dotting its expansive Great Lakes shoreline. Many of these lighthouses lay claim to haunted happenings. Former keepers like the cigar-smoking Captain Townshend at Seul Choix Point and prankster John Herman at Waugoshance Shoal near Mackinaw City maintain their watch long after death ended their duties. At White River Light Station in Whitehall, Sarah Robinson still keeps a clean and tidy house, and a mysterious young girl at the Marquette Harbor Lighthouse seeks out other children and female companions. Countless spirits remain between Whitefish Point and Point Iroquois in an area well known for its many tragic shipwrecks. Join author and Promote Michigan founder Dianna Stampfler as she recounts the tales from Michigan’s ghostly beacons. “Haunting tales of Michigan’s lighthouses . . . Her stories come from lighthouse museums, friends and family.”—Great Lakes Echo

The lighthouses of the Great Lakes, for so long guiding ships to safety across the rough waters, still stand as beacons to adventurous travelers. Rich with vintage and contemporary photographs, picturing the lighthouses inside and out, by day and by night, the book takes you into the fascinating history of the structures at Split Rock, Sandusky, Big Sable Point, Old Mackinac Point Light, and Marblehead Light, to name a few. Berger’s stories about keepers and their families, horrific storms, and even encounters with ghosts bring to vivid life the lost world of these historic lighthouses. A thoroughly engaging tour page by page, the book also makes travel to these destinations easy as well as edifying, with maps, directions, and a comprehensive appendix listing all the current lighthouses.

From the Straits of Mackinac to the Detroit River, Images of America: Lighthouses of Eastern Michigan reveals intriguing stories of lighthouses and the people who depended on them. Readers will enjoy discovering what happened when a large ship fell 20 feet over one of the Soo Locks and the captain commented, “Good-bye Old World,” as well as of a persistent ghost that caused havoc with the Coast Guard. Which lighthouse was a construction miracle in 1874? And whatever happened to the lost lighthouses of the Detroit River? A collection of the mysteries, storms, fires, and heroics surrounding the lighthouses of eastern Michigan are waiting within.

Stories from fifty historic female lighthouse keepers

"Adapted from Michigan's haunted lighthouses by Dianna Higgs Stampfler."