The Presque Isle lighthouses and the old harbor

The peninsula that gives the whole county its name juts out into Lake Huron in Presque Isle Township. “Presque Isle” is French for “almost an island.” Long before there were roads, Native Americans and French voyageurs would carry their canoes across its narrow neck. That spot is still called the Portage. It let them avoid paddling miles around the point. The bay it shelters became one of the safest natural harbors on Lake Huron. It was also a key refueling stop in the days of wood-burning steamers.

Because of that harbor, the peninsula has not one but two historic lighthouses. The Old Presque Isle Lighthouse, built in 1840, is one of the oldest surviving lighthouses on the Great Lakes. It is a stout little stone-and-brick tower you can still climb. When it grew too small for the busy lake traffic, a taller one went up a mile north in 1870. That is the New Presque Isle Light. At over a hundred feet, it is the tallest lighthouse tower the public can climb anywhere on the Great Lakes. Both are now museums run by the township. Their restored keepers’ houses tell the story of the families who kept the lights. That includes one family who tended them for more than forty years. The old light is also one of the Great Lakes’ famously haunted lighthouses, at least according to local legend.

For buyers, this is one of the prettiest corners of the county. It is a quiet shoreline community with a marina, a historic inn, sandy beaches, and Lake Huron sunrises. You can find the lighthouses’ hours and climbing fees at presqueislelighthouses.org.