Harbor Beach Lighthouse, Michigan, United States

5Ernest M 5:00 PM Aug 3, 2015

“A Nice Trip Back in History”
July 18, 2015 marked the 130th Birthday of the Harbor Beach Lighthouse and the day was filled with celebratory events. Tours of the lighthouse through out the day, a quilt show, guest speakers, a parade, musical entertainment and a wonderful dinner to cap off the celebration. A tour of the lighthouse begins with a 10 minute water trip by launch from the marina which, as you approach by water you get to appreciate the value of the location and position of the 130 year old structure. It is fun to climb the round steps and view the living quarters of the Keeper and his assistants, & also to climb to the top and stand on the Gallery to appreciate the wonderful views. As you wander through the lighthouse, you will notice even the doors to the living quarters were “rounded” to fit the “rounded” walls. Harbor Beach, Michigan is on the west coast of Lake Huron about an hours drive north from Port Huron on US 25. Enjoy !

5Paul K 5:00 PM Aug 15, 2017

It's people that make this experience special
My wife is from Harbor Beach and most of her family lives there. When we drove out to Harbor Beach from Massachusetts to visit family this summer, my sister in law made reservations to tour the Harbor Beach Lighthouse. In all the years I've been visiting Harbor Beach, the lighthouse is something I've always seen from a distance but never up close. I'm going to say up front that the people really make this tour work. These are all local people who know the all the extensive history of the lighthouse as well as the history of the city and surrounding area so they can really give you a sense of the lighthouse operations over the years. As far as the tour itself goes.. you check in for the lighthouse tour at a small gazebo (which doubles as a gift shop) at the Harbor Beach Marina. There were about 4 or 5 volunteers organizing things at the gazebo when we visited. The lighthouse itself is way out at the end of a long jetty that protects the harbor. While you can walk out on the jetty, you can't walk all the way to the lighthouse as there are a couple breakpoints in the jetty preventing this. So, the lighthouse is only accessible by boat. For this, a local charter boat shuttles six visitors at a time to the lighthouse (it's about a 7 or 10 minute boat ride). The boat shuttle works out very well as it keeps the amount of visitors regulated and the lighthouse from becoming overly crowded at any given time. At the lighthouse, you are met by another volunteer who explains the history of the lighthouse in general. He pointed out the interesting aspects of the structure. For example, the tapered cylinder structure of the lighthouse was made of cast Iron and cast in Boston (very interesting to me being from Massachusetts). He talked about construction materials, what is original, what isn't original, what has changed over the years, and the future ongoing restoration plans. Very informative. Once inside, the various levels of the lighthouse are accessible for you to see (lighthouse keepers quarters, crew quarters, workrooms, etc). As you stop at each level the volunteer stationed on that level will give you a history of that level, When you reach the top level you can even walk out onto the exterior walkway for a panoramic view of the harbor. There are many old and original artifacts on site including old pictures of the lighthouse operations over the years. Some of the volunteers relatives are in those older pictures. I'm amazed that the restoration efforts and tour management is all done through the work of the volunteers and without any grant money. Well done! As a side note your ticket also includes admission to the The Grice House Museum which is also located on Marina property. There is also plenty of parking. If you're ever in Harbor Beach I would strongly recommend this tour.