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Photographer: Keith W. Churill
Photographer: Keith W. Churill
Front Range in July, 2000
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Cheboygan Range Lights
Cheboygan, MI |
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 Built :
1880
Construction :
Dwelling, Wood
Status :
Active
Location :
Cheboygan, MI
Height
: 40 feet
Access :
Car, parking near the
light.
Directions:
From US-23 in downtown Cheboygan, turn North on Water Street and
follow a short distance, the range light will be on the East side. 
Photo courtesy of: U.S. Coast Guard
The Front Range in the late 1890's.
Cheboygan Harbor:
By the late 1870's, Cheboygan had extensive business
established in timber, lumber, lath, shingles, cedar telegraph poles,
fence posts, cord wood and farm products. In 1878, the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers had dredged the mouth of the Cheboygan River allowing the larger
class of propeller vessels to use the harbor. Cheboygan's water-born
commerce reached it's peak in 1889 with 748 vessels using the harbor. By
1916, commerce had dropped to only 77,455 tons of cargo. Today the harbor
is used extensively by pleasure boats and is the home port of the
Coast
Guard Cutter Mackinac. |
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Front Range Light History:
Water-born commerce was growing rapidly in Cheboygan and an aid to
navigation for entering the Cheboygan River was in great demand.
Congress appropriated $10,000 in July of 1876 for construction of a set
of range lights. The project would not be completed until September of
1880.
The light was constructed as an integral part of the
rectangular wood-framed keepers dwelling. The dwelling measures 24 feet
by 27 feet 6 inches with a tower measuring 9 feet square. The lantern
room is also wood framed and measures 6 feet 2 inches square. The
two-story dwelling is capped with a gabled roof and the lantern room
with a hipped roof. White as of 1900, the Range Light's original
day-mark was brown. The lantern room is designed with only one window
which restricted light visibility, only allowing it to be seen when
close to the proper course for entering the channel. Mariners would
line-up the Rear Range light directly above the Front Range Light to
safely enter the channel.
The lantern was fitted with a fixed red Sixth Order
Fresnel lens
manufactured by Henri LaPaute of Paris. |
Photographer: Roy B. Westin
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Photographer: Roy B. Westin
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In 1890, the station was hooked-up to
Cheboygan's city water supply. At that time, the light
station's plot of land was found to be poorly drained. The
Lighthouse Board requested Congress for $1,500 to purchase
adjacent property in order to re-grade and improve drainage
around the station. Finally, after 8 years of annual
reports, Congress appropriated $1,700 in July 1898 for the
purchase of adjacent properties. It would take an additional
11 years to legally obtain titles to the land and in 1909
the land was finally graded properly.
In
1891, a cylindrical iron oil house was added to the station.
It was designed to hold kerosene in standard 5 gallon
containers.
The
Front Range now exhibits a fixed red beacon with a lens
focal plane of 45 feet above lake level. Both the Front and
Rear Range lights use a locomotive style lantern. Both
electrical lamps provide a 10,000 candlepower illumination
with a visibility range of 14 miles. Automation was achieved
with the installation of these new lights and keeper's were
no longer needed. |
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Rear Range Light History:
The Rear Range Marker is located
1,150 feet South of the Front Range.
Originally constructed as a wooden structure, it had a vertical oval
day-mark consisting of horizontal wooden slats. The structure held a
lens-lantern at the top which was first lit on September 30, 1880.
The photograph to the right is
taken in the early 1900's showing the new skeletal iron Rear Range
tower, notice the
vertical oval day-mark and lantern at the top.
This view is from Water Street
just North of Division Street looking in a Southerly direction. The new
tower was constructed in 1900, replacing the original wooden tower.
The Rear Range, with modern,
rectangular range markings, now exhibits a fixed red beacon with a lens
focal plane of 75 feet above lake level.
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Photo courtesy of: U.S. Coast Guard |
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The Front Range building is currently used by the U.S. Coast Guard and
the National Wildlife Service and both range lights still serves as an
active aid to navigation. |
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