On March 2, 1889, congress passed an act for the establishment of a light station at Old Mackinac Point. In March 1891, $20,000 was appropriated for the construction of the light tower and keepers’ dwelling. Construction of the house commenced in May, 1892, and proceeded quickly. The fifty-foot tower is attached to the two-story keepers’ dwelling, which contained separate residences for the families of the keeper and assistant keeper. The care of the design of Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse was not typical of contemporary lighthouses on the Great Lakes, and why such attention was paid to this lighthouse is not documented. A theory is that the Lighthouse Service may have wanted to project a pleasant image given the location of the lighthouse within a public park and the significant number of tourists that passed by it during the summer season.
Today the Keepers’ Quarters contains three rooms restored to their 1910 appearance and a gallery exhibit on the history of the lighthouse featuring hands-on displays and original artifacts, including the original fourth-order Fresnel Lens. In addition, an exhibit devoted to optics and lenses as well as sound and fog signals can be found here.
