Despite the very wet weather throughout the day Saturday, October 4 the Harbor Springs Area Historical Society’s Little Traverse Lighthouse Tour was a big success. In fact, the cloudy, drizzly weather was actually a perfect teaching moment for Terry Pepper, the Executive Director of the Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association. Terry was on hand during the tour and described how the day was a great example of “thick weather,” or weather where early sailors would have needed help from lighthouses and fog signals to navigate. There’s nothing like learning new historical lingo while dashing through a downpour!

The Historical Society’s tour of the Little Traverse Lighthouse sold out almost a month ago and we were thrilled to welcome over 300 guests to tour the lighthouse. The Harbor Point Association generously allows the Historical Society to do these tours and we are extremely grateful to be able to take people through the building and to show off all the hard work the association’s Lighthouse Committee has put into the site. We would also like to thank our sponsors who helped make this tour possible: Abent Pest Control, Gurney’s Bottle Shop, Lauer Pest Control, Stafford’s Hospitality, Tom’s Mom’s Cookies, Harbor Springs IGA and the Petoskey Area Visitors Bureau.

Enjoy some snapshots of the event below. Be sure to sign up for our email newsletter to be the first to hear about other events and programs at the Historical Society.

Above left: Docent Tim Tippett and guest Delyte DeLong in their rain gear. Delyte was a resident of the lighthouse in the late 1950s when her then husband Norm Ruessman was stationed there.

Above middle: The fog signal building and the Little Traverse Lighthouse.

Above right: A bus full of Lighthouse Tour volunteers. Between room monitors, docents, registration desk workers and more we had over 180 hours of volunteer time donated to this event. We couldn’t have done it without our amazing volunteers! Thank you.

Above left: When the lighthouse was decommissioned by the U.S. Coast Guard in 1963 the government sold the house back to the Harbor Point Association. The government then bought a smaller chunk of land near the lighthouse and erected this metal frame and light to replace the lighthouse.

Above center: This oil house was reconstructed on the original foundation in 2011. It was originally used to house the flammable kerosene needed to light the lamp in the tower.

Above right: Beautiful green shutters on the lighthouse.