Sturgeon Point Lighthouse and museums

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

The keeper’s house is now a maritime museum covering the lighthouse and Great Lakes shipping history. A restored one-room log schoolhouse — the Old Bailey School — sits on the grounds beside it. The historical society runs a third museum, too: the 1880s Lincoln Depot, complete with a caboose, a few miles inland in the village of Lincoln. The season runs roughly Memorial Day into late September — mostly weekends, with daily hours in mid-summer. In season 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. 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.