Catching a White Whale

 So yesterday I was given an opportunity to get a picture of lighthouse I've wanted to get for a while but it's kind of inaccessible.   I got a call on Friday night asking me if I wanted to get pictures of the lighthouse.  I wasn't entirely sure since there was a nice mix of ships coming down the river but I figured I could get the opportunity to catch those ships again but I wasn't sure about this opportunity.

Actually it is known as the Saginaw River Rear Range Light.  Range lights are typically in pairs and they show a ship coming in if they are lined up with the channel.

In 1841, the original Saginaw River lighthouse was built at the mouth of the river to show the entrance of the Saginaw River.

In 1867, the river was dredged so that larger ships could get in.  Demand for timber from the Saginaw valley was huge.  Unfortunately, this dredging made the original lighthouse out of position for the entrance to the river.

The front range was built on the western bank of the River (but I'm not exactly sure where that was).  It was constructed on a square timber crib and took the form of a 34 foot tall pyramid.  It had a sixth order Fresnel lens which could send light 8.5 nautical miles out into the Saginaw Bay.

This lighthouse was built 2,300 feet south of the mouth of the river.  The design for the combined tower/living quarters was unique.

The tower is 54 feet tall and is equipped with fourth order Fresnel lens.

In 1915, both of the range lights were converted to electric use.

At some point, the front range light was deactivated but the rear light stayed active for a number of years.

Around this time, it was converted to the Coast Guard station until the 1970s.  They moved to the new station across the river and lighthouse stood abandoned.

In 1986, the lighthouse and the property surrounding it was bought by the Dow Chemical Company because they already owned the land around that.  They boarded up the lighthouse at that point.

In 1999, The Saginaw River Marine Historical Society approached Dow Chemical about renovating the lighthouse.

In 2002, they acquired a light similar to the one used between 1930 and 1960.

The mouth of the Saginaw River.

It is believe that this was the first pair of range lights that was used but not confirmed.

They are in the process of renovating the lighthouse.  I think they said that they are going to strip the paint and repaint it.

I think it will look nice and I hope that there is provision for public access at that point.

It would be cool if they could figure out what the front light looked like and recreate that.

A shot from above.