Why would this lighthouse have taken five years to build?
On the Great Lakes lighthouses closed down for the winter once the lakes were too frozen to permit navigation. Keepers
would go home for the winter and return when navigation resumed.
How would the keepers cut a passage through solid ice?
Lighthouses were built to aid ships in navigating their routes. What important commodity were cargo ships on Lake Huron
carrying? Google Mesabi Range and iron ore.
Click on cross section showing construction of Spectacle Reef Lighthouse's foundation
Lighthouse Maps
Lake Huron Detail of Eleventh Lighthouse District
Can you find Spectacle Reef Lighthouse on this map?
Click on map to view larger image
Source: 1881 Annual Report of the U.S. Light-House Board
This Reader's Guide is intended to be used with Lighthouses Short and Tall, a book for readers 11 and up written by Mary Louise and Candace Clifford. It is available from the publisher,
Cypress Communications, by using their book order form.
