CHEBOYGAN RIVER RANGE FRONT LIGHTHOUSE

Location: CHEBOYGAN RIVER, LAKE HERON, CHEBOYGAN, MICHIGAN
Station Established: 1880
Year Current Tower(s) First Lit: 1880
Operational? YES
Automated? UNKNOWN
Deactivated: N/A
Foundation Materials: 
Construction Materials: WOOD
Tower Shape: SQUARE 
Markings/Pattern: BROWN THEN LATER CHANGED TO WHITE
Relationship to Other Structure: ATTACHED
Original Lens: SIXTH ORDER FRESNEL

Historical Information:

• In 1880 building began on a set of range lights to guide vessels through the newly widened Cheboygan River.  The front range light was a keeper’s quarters with a tower attached.  The lantern was constructed of wood and equipped with a sixth order Fresnel lens.
• The rear range light was a skeletal tower that was lit on the same day as the front light.
• In 1900, the rear range light was replaced with an iron 75 foot tower.  At the same time, the front light was repainted white.
• It is unknown when the lights were automated.  The original optics were replaced by locomotive type lights.
• The range lights still serve as a active aid to navigation and are not open to the public.

Researched and written by Melissa Buckler, a volunteer through the Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Lighthouse Society.