The United States of America is a federal union of 50 states and a capital district. The state of Michigan comes in two parts: the Lower Peninsula (between Lakes Huron and Michigan) and the Upper Peninsula
(between Lakes Michigan and Superior). Putting the two together, the state
has an astonishingly long coastline, so it is not surprising that Michigan
has more lighthouses than any other U.S. state, by quite a large margin.
The Directory has information on more than 130 sites.
This lighthouse heritage is well recognized. Michigan is the only state
that supports lighthouse preservation with a program of annual grants
from the state to local preservation groups. All over the state, volunteers
are working hard to save and restore lighthouses. There is a state preservation
society, the Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy, and the Great Lakes Lighthouse
Keepers Association is also based in the state.
Michigan was organized as a territory in 1805 and admitted to the union as the 26th state in 1837.
This page includes lighthouses of the west coast of the Lower Peninsula,
which faces Lake Michigan.
Aids to navigation in Michigan are maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard Ninth District, but ownership (and sometimes operation) of historic lighthouses has been transferred to local authorities and preservation organizations in many cases. Lights from the Indiana border through the Fox Islands are the responsibility of the Aids to Navigation (ATN) team at Muskegon, while those in the northern end of the lake are the responsibility of the ATN team at Sault Sainte Marie in the Upper Peninsula.
ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS
World List of Lights. USCG numbers are from Volume VII of the
United States Coast Guard Light List.
- General Sources
- Seeing
the Lights: The Lighthouses of Michigan
- A wonderful site by the late Terry Pepper, with fine photos, accounts of recent visits
to many of the lighthouses, and extensive historical information.
- Michigan
Lighthouses
- Excellent photos and information posted by Kraig Anderson.
- Lake Michigan Lighthouses
- Photos by C.W. Bash.
- Lighthouse Hunters - Lower Michigan
- Photos and accounts by Christine & Tom Cardaci.
- Lighthouses of the Great Lakes
- Photos by various photographers available from Wikimedia.
- Michigan, United States Lighthouses
- Aerial photos posted by Marinas.com.
- Leuchttürme
USA auf historischen Postkarten
- Historic postcard images posted by Klaus Huelse.
- Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association
- GLLKA encourages lighthouse preservation throughout the Great Lakes states,
but it is best known for its work preserving the Round Island, St. Helena
Island, and Cheboygan Range Lights in the Straits of Mackinac area.
- Sable
Points Lighthouse Keepers Association

- The association manages the Big Sable Point, Little Sable Point, Ludington North Breakwater, and White River Lighthouses.
- Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy
- This organization is dedicated to the preservation of lighthouses and life
saving stations throughout the state.
- Michigan Lighthouse Assistance Program
- This state program provides grants annually for lighthouse preservation.
- U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Center: Light Lists
- The USCG Light List can be downloaded in pdf format.
- GPSNautical Charts
- Navigation chart for Lake Michigan.
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White River Light, White Hall, October 2022
Instagram photo
by Lighthouse Buffs

South Pierhead Lights, Grand Haven, December 2020
Google Maps photo
by Walter Elliott
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