Sturgeon Point Lighthouse and museums

A few miles north of Harrisville, in Haynes Township, Sturgeon Point reaches out into Lake Huron — and it’s home to one of Alcona County’s signature landmarks, the Sturgeon Point Lighthouse. Built in 1869 to warn ships off a mile-and-a-half-long reef, the white Cape Cod-style tower and its keeper’s house have been carefully restored and are run today by the Alcona Historical Society.

The keeper’s house is now a maritime museum covering the lighthouse and Great Lakes shipping history, and a restored one-room log schoolhouse — the Old Bailey School — sits on the grounds beside it. The Alcona Historical Society runs a third museum, too: the 1880s Lincoln Depot, complete with a caboose, a few miles inland in the village of Lincoln. In season — roughly Memorial Day into late September, mostly weekends, with daily hours in mid-summer — you can tour the museums and, when volunteers are on hand, climb the tower for a view up and down the coast. Admission to the museums is free; there’s a small fee to climb the tower. The grounds and the half-mile of sandy beach in the surrounding Sturgeon Point State Park are open year-round, and it’s a well-known spot for rock hunting and quiet beach walks.

It’s the kind of place that makes the Alcona shore feel storied rather than just scenic — and it’s a short drive from anywhere in the Harrisville area.

Plan a visit through the Alcona Historical Society at alconahistoricalsociety.com.