Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse
P.O. Box 873    Mackinaw City, MI 49701
Listing Type: Historical
Phone: 231-436-4100
Fax: 231-436-4210

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Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse is just east of the Colonial Michilimackinac Visitor's Center in Mackinaw City near the south end of the Mackinac Bridge. Take Exit 339 off northbound I-75, turn left at Nicolet and right on Huron. The Lighthouse Information Center is in the 1907 Fog Signal House, a small brick building east of Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse. Its steam-powered horn steered ships clear from shore in fog and darkness. The Mackinac Island State Park Commission purchased the Fog Signal House, a barn, and the lighthouse in 1960. Visitors toured exhibits there from 1972-1988.

German-born John Peter Schmitt and his crew built Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse in 1892. Its light guided ships on the Straits of Mackinac for 66 years. Schmitt's great-grandson Jim Belisle of Wyoming, MI, and Nancy Campbell of Mackinaw City, daughter-in-law of John Campbell, the last keeper, lead fundraising with Audrey Jaggi of Mackinaw City and Patricia Jahn of Bois Blanc Island. The lighthouse closed in December 1957 after the Mackinac Bridge opened. "Old Mackinac Point is listed in the National and State Registers of Historic Places. Its restoration and re-opening have been on our Strategic Plan since 1997," says MSHP Director Phil Porter. Breathtaking views of the Mackinac Straits, Bridge and Island make the park near Old Mackinac Point popular for picnics and watching sunsets. Its castle-like architecture draws millions of visitors. "Old Mackinac Point is one of Mackinaw City's oldest original buildings that maintains its original late 19th century architectural integrity," says MSHP Chief Curator Steve Brisson. Since 1895, Mackinac Island State Park Commission historians have protected and preserved Mackinac State Historic Parks' museums and parks: Mackinac Island State Park, Fort Mackinac, Colonial Michilimackinac and Historic Mill Creek. They will professionally preserve Old Mackinac Point as well.