Spectacle Reef Lighthouse, MI - Philatelic Photographs on Waymarking.com

In the northern part of Lake Huron, about 11 miles due east from the eastern-most point of Bois Blanc Island (and right smack dab in the middle of shipping lanes), lie a pair of limestone shoals which at certain points are only seven feet below the surface of the lake. So dangerous were these shoals to navigators that in the years following the Civil War they were considered the most dreaded unmarked hazard in all the Great Lakes. Prior to construction of the lighthouse, soundings were made of the entire area revealing the shoals to be in the shape of a giant pair of eye-glasses, hence the name Spectacle Reef.

Construction of this lighthouse involved sinking a timber crib to the surface of the reef and building a cofferdam within the crib around the spot where the lighthouse would be built. Once pumped out, this provided a dry surface on which to work. Seventeen courses of limestone were then bolted to the reef and to each other forming a solid base extending eleven feet below the lake surface to 23 feet above. The tower itself consisted of limestone walls five and a half feet thick at the base but tapering to less than a foot and a half at the top. The total height of the structure from the surface of the reef to the top of the lamp enclosure is 93 feet. After being fitted with a second order Fresnel lens, the lamp was first lit on June 1, 1874. In all, it took about four years to complete and cost over $400,000 (a lot of money in those days). So proud was the Army Corps of Engineers of their accomplishment that a scale model of the lighthouse was placed on display at the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

Being located in the middle of a lake, this lighthouse is only accessible by boat and is not open to the public. (It can be seen from the shores of Lake Huron east of Cheboygan but only on a clear day and with binoculars.) The Fresnel lens (which was replaced with a modern solar-powered optic in 1982) is currently on display at the Inland Seas Maritime Museum near Toledo, OH.

The stamp was one of a set of five stamps issued in 1995 showing lighthouses of the Great Lakes. This one, representing Lake Huron, shows a bird’s eye view of Spectacle Reef Lighthouse (along with a few birds).

Stamp Issuing Country: United States Date of Issue: 17-June-1995 Denomination: 32 cents Color: multicolored Stamp Type: Single Stamp Relevant Web Site: Not listed

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