St Joseph Outer & Inner Pier Lighthouses

St Joseph Sunset, photo by PhotoJacko

We’ve all been seeing a bunch of photos from the frozen St. Joseph Pier, so I thought it would be good to give you a little primer about which is which. It took a little digging, but Dave Wobster at Boatnerd.com has the best info on St. Joseph North Pier Outer & Inner Lights:

The present range lights were built in 1907 when the north pier was extended 1000-feet necessitating two lights which serve as range lights. Previously, there had been lights erected as early as 1832 at this location. A round stone tower, built in 1859, was replaced by the present lights.

Outer – (Front Range) is a round, cast-iron plate 35-foot tall tower topped by a round watch room and 10-sided lantern room. The tower is painted white, and the lantern room is black. The fixed light is exhibited via a Fifth-Order Fresnel lens and two brass reflecting panels manufactured by Barbier & Benard of Paris. The light is visible for 180 degrees. (above)

Inner – (Rear Range) was built in 1898 and rebuilt 1907. A 26-foot square steel-framed fog signal building encased in 3/8″ cast iron plates with an octagonal light tower on a hip roof. The helical bar lantern room contains a Fourth-Order fixed Fresnel lens with a brass reflector manufactured by Sautter & Company of Paris. The building is white with a red roof, and the lantern room is painted black. The light is visible over a range of 270 degrees. (below)

The lights are connected by an elevated catwalk that extends from the shore to the outer light. The walkway was constructed to permit the light keepers access to the light during rough weather.

Yesterday I featured a photo by Jackie as the cover of the Absolute Michigan Facebook page. Click the photos to view them bigger on Flickr, see more in her Winter slideshow and follow her at Jackie Novak Photography on Facebook.