With the discovery of iron ore in Marquette County around 1840, the area quickly became one of the busiest ports in the Upper Peninsula. Granite Island’s location approximately twelve-and-a-half miles to the northeast represented a major threat to vessels making passage to and from Marquette harbor. On March 2, 1867, Congress appropriated $20,000 for construction of a lighthouse on the island. The lighthouse tender “Haze” delivered a construction crew and building supplies to the island in the spring of 1868, and the crew began construction with the blasting of a flat spot for the structure’s foundation at the island’s highest point.
Note: This is a privately owned island.
Location:
Located on Lake Superior’s Granite Island, 12.5 miles north of Marquette.
Latitude: 46.7208
Longitude: -87.4114