Porch Notes
Round Island: The Little Lighthouse That Became a Movie Star
History and culture
If you’ve ever taken the ferry to Mackinac Island, you’ve seen it: a picture-perfect red-and-white lighthouse standing alone on a wooded island, slipping past your window. That’s Round Island Light, one of the most photographed lighthouses in Michigan — and a genuine movie star, featured in the 1980 film “Somewhere in Time.”
It was built in 1895 to guide ships through the narrow, reef-lined channel between Round Island and Mackinac Island, a key gateway into the Straits of Mackinac. For a little over fifty years it was tended by keepers; then, in 1947, it was abandoned in favor of an automated light, and left to the weather.
What happened next is the good part. Empty and unguarded, the lighthouse was vandalized and slowly fell apart. In 1972, a fierce storm tore off a corner of the building — it looked like the end. But local people refused to let it go. Islanders and preservationists rallied, raising money (some of it by selling buttons to tourists), piling protective stone around the base, and painstakingly rebuilding the walls. The little lighthouse was placed on the National Register, restored over the following years, and its light was eventually switched back on. Today it stands proud on its uninhabited island, admired by thousands of ferry passengers every summer day.
Where to see it
From the deck of any Mackinac Island ferry, and from the southern shore of Mackinac Island. Round Island itself is undeveloped (part of the Hiawatha National Forest), so the lighthouse is best viewed from the water.