>> Click to enlarge << The old 4th order lens is shown here all lit up ... Photo by: Cynthia Jaye

Recently, lighthouse lampist Kurt Fosburg was hired by St. James Township on Michigan’s Beaver Island to remove the 4th order Fresnel lens from the St. James Lighthouse and install it in a temperature-controlled window box in the township hall near the lighthouse.

>> Click to enlarge << Close-up view of the 4th order Fresnel lens in ... Photo by: Cynthia Jaye

Visitors can now view the lens in person when the township office is open. Last year, visitors were also able to climb the freshly painted cream-colored tower. The St. James Lighthouse is also known as the St. James Harbor Lighthouse and Whiskey Point Lighthouse. It was previously known as the Beaver Harbor Lighthouse.

>> Click to enlarge << The 4th order Fresnel lens is shown here after it ... Photo by: Joseph Moore

In 2005, St. James Township was granted ownership of the 1870 light tower, which had been built to replace an earlier tower that was established in 1856. The brick keeper’s house was demolished in the winter of 1940-1941.

This story appeared in the Jan/Feb 2019 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.

All contents copyright © 1995-2024 by Lighthouse Digest®, Inc. No story, photograph, or any other item on this website may be reprinted or reproduced without the express permission of Lighthouse Digest. For contact information, click here.