MICHIGAN—One of the most beloved, visited and accessible lighthouses in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is the also the first project on the Hiawatha National Forest to be completed using funds from the Great American Outdoors Act. The project also exemplifies the importance of community and historic preservation.

Significant repairs to the Point Iroquois Lighthouse, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, focused on stabilizing the exterior masonry of the Lighthouse keeper’s quarters and repairing the rock wall that surrounds the lighthouse.

For nearly 100 years the exterior brick masonry was coated with 20th century sealants and latex paints that did not allow the 19th century brick to properly breathe. These coatings trapped moisture in the brick. The trapped water would freeze and expand during the winter months, causing the brick to spall and crack. The crew set out to peel off as much of this sealant and paint as possible so that they could repaint and repair the masonry before painting it with a breathable masonry coating.

The surrounding rock wall was built by hand by several lighthouse keepers and their families during the 1930s. Over the years it fell into disrepair and children of the lighthouse keepers reached out directly to the Hiawatha National Forest to ask about repairing the wall. The crew meticulously re-constructed the rock wall by hand using tools such as masonry chisels, hammers and pointing trowels.

Hiawatha National Forest’s Heritage Program Manager Eric Drake and Archaeologist Ryan Brown, along with a HistoriCorps project supervisor and a crew leader, oversaw the six-week. The general crew changed throughout the project, with the first crew consisting of employees of YouthWork out of Traverse City, Michigan. This program focuses on helping at-risk youth gain skills they need to find permanent employment in the construction and carpentry trades. The second crew consisted of volunteers from across the country, including Washington, New Jersey, Connecticut, Wisconsin, Illinois, Wyoming, North Carolina, Kansas, Ohio, New Mexico and Colorado.

In addition to the important work that took place this year, the Hiawatha National Forest now has a detailed scope of work planned for 2022, which will focus on stabilizing the exterior masonry of the lighthouse tower.

The work planned for the next couple of years will bring the physical status of the lighthouse up to the Secretary of Interior Standards for Historic Properties and will enhance the visitor experience. The project is part of the $285 million investment made possible by the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund, established in 2020 by the Great American Outdoors Act.