DETOUR REEF LIGHTHOUSE

Location: MOUTH OF ST. MARY'S RIVER/LAKE HURON 
Station Established: 1847 
Year Current Tower(s) First Lit: 1931 
Operational? YES 
Automated? YES 1974 
Deactivated: n/a 
Foundation Materials: CRIB 
Construction Materials: REINFORCED CONCRETE/STEEL 
Tower Shape: SQUARE 
Markings/Pattern: WHITE W/RED ROOF 
Relationship to Other Structure: INTEGRAL 
Original Lens: THIRD AND HALF ORDER

Historical Information:

• 1931/32 – Lighthouse built for $140,000.
• 1974 – Lighthouse automated.
• 1988 – Fresnel lens removed and replaced by modern optic.
• 1996 – New VRB-25 optic installed.
• 1998 – Detour Reef Light Preservation Society (DRLPS) formed.
• 2000 – DRLPS obtained 20-year lease on the lighthouse from the Coast Guard.

Keepers:

• James Beloungea (1st Assistant, 1931 – 1939)
• John Sweet (1933 – 1940)
• Lyle Garfield (2nd Assistant, 1937 – 1941)
• Charles Jones (1940 – 1963)
• Thomas P. Brander (1st Assistant, 1940 – 1945)

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