Point Iroquois Light Station & Museum

This complex, part of the Hiawatha National Forest, brings together all the elements of the lighthouse mystique. The site is memorable. It's in a woods just back from a beautiful beach with ample deposits of driftwood and colored beach stones. A boardwalk makes the beach accessible to wheelchairs and strollers. At the lighthouse, weather permitting, visitors can climb the spiral iron stairway in the 65-foot tower (that's 72 steps) and get a fine view of the shipping lanes by the Soo Locks. Sometimes several freighters can be seen at once if weather or traffic has bunched ships at the locks. The view is especially memorable in fall color season.

At the museum, one apartment of the 1870 lighthouse is furnished to give an idea of the lightkeepers' everyday lives. Other rooms show lighthouse technology, the history of navigational aids, and photos from the lighthouse from the 1890s until its closing in 1962. This important light station housed three families.

At one time, a small school was held here. Betty Byrnes Bacon, who grew up here, recalled her life in the 1920s at this self-sufficient homestead in a delightful book, Lighthouse Memories. It's available at the attractive small museum shop. The shop is well supplied not only with books on lighthouses and Great Lakes maritime matters but with bird guides and other nature books, plus Smokey the Bear in various forms. The Bay Mills-Brimley Historical Research Society worked with the Forest Service to renovate the lighthouse and develop this museum.

On Lake Shore Dr. 5 miles west of Brimley and east of Paradise. (906) 437-5272. Open from May 15 thru October 15 daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The tower sometimes stays open until 7 p.m. Free admission. Donations appreciated. Wheelchair-accessible: not lighthouse. 3 steps into lighthouse, tight spaces. Boardwalk loop to beach is accessible.
Photo: Dr. Ching-Kuang Shene, Michigan Technological University

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