Rouleau Point Range Light, Rouleau Point, Portage Lake, 7 miles from Hancock, Michigan
ROULEAU POINT RANGE LIGHTS
ST. MARY’S RIVER JUNCTION WITH LILY POND LOWER CANAL, LAKE SUPERIOR, MICHIGAN
Station Established: 1897
Year Current Tower(s) First Lit: 1937
Operational? YES
Automated? YES
Deactivated: N/A
Foundation Materials: EMPLACED
Construction Materials: FRONT RANGE - WOOD / REAR RANGE - STEEL AND WOOD
Tower Shape: FRONT RANGE - RECTANGULAR WITH SQUARE BASE / REAR RANGE - RECTANGULAR WITH SLATTED RECTANGULAR DAYMARK
Markings/Pattern: FRONT RANGE - NATURAL / REAR RANGE - BLACK AND WHITE
Relationship to Other Structure: SEPARATE
Original Lens: 1,200 CANDLEPOWER ELECTRIC RANGE LIGHTS
Historical Information:
Little information is available on these ranges lights. They were first lit in 1897 to mark the St. Mary’s River junction with the Lily Pond Lower Canal, Portage Lake and Lake Superior. The rear light is 1,280 feet away from the front light. The original lights were rectangular in shape. The front light was a rectangular shape on a square base. The rear light was a rectangle with slats in the center on a tower.
In 1937 they were replaced with skeletal towers with rectangular dayboards with outer red stripes with a white stripe in the center. A keepers’ house does exist but is privately owned. The range lights remain an active aid to navigation.
Researched and written by Melissa Buckler, a volunteer through the Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Lighthouse Society.