The Presque Isle Pair: The Oldest and the Tallest You Can Climb

A mile apart on a remote point of Lake Huron, north of Alpena, stand two lighthouses with bookend claims to fame — and a couple of good ghost stories to boot. (“Presque isle” is French for “almost an island.”)

The Old Presque Isle Lighthouse went up in 1840, a modest 30-foot stone tower lit by a whale-oil lamp to guide ships into the snug harbor. It’s now one of the oldest lighthouses you can still climb anywhere on the Great Lakes. By 1870 it had been outgrown, so a much grander replacement rose a mile to the north: the New Presque Isle Lighthouse, a soaring brick tower that stands 113 feet tall — the tallest lighthouse tower open to the public on all five Great Lakes. Climb its 130 steps and the whole Lake Huron horizon opens up beneath you.

And the ghosts? Like a surprising number of old Michigan lighthouses, the Presque Isle lights come wrapped in legend. The most famous tale is the “phantom light” of the old tower: though it was disconnected from power long ago, people — including the folks who run the museum — say they’ve seen it glow on certain nights, the work, they’ll tell you with a smile, of a long-gone keeper. Take it as folklore, not fact, but it’s part of the charm.