Although shaded in a thick layer of Lake Michigan cloud cover, the Little Sable Point Lighthouse looks just as it had when it was completed 140 years ago. Known by its French name well into the 1800s, Petite Pointe Au Sable became a navigational nuisance. With increases in shipping over Lake Michigan, mariners called for a lighthouse on this point. No access roads existed in this region of Michigan, and all supplies and lighthouse construction crew were brought in by boat. Pilings were sunk into the lakeside dunes, and the 107 foot brick tower followed. Complete with a cast iron lantern room, the lighthouse was completed in 1874. At the turn of the century, cries from the maritime community called for the natural brick tower to be painted white, making a better navigational aid in the daylight hours.
   White for nearly a century, the tower has been sandblasted and stripped of its heavy layer of paint, appearing as it had during its first 25 years. The picturesque lighthouse setting is part of Silver Lake State Park, found along the eastern Michigan lakeshore near Hart. Recently, the Big Sable Point Light Keepers Association obtained a 25 year lease on the tower, and began their refurbishment project in 2006. The brick light-keepers home is long gone, but the attractive lighthouse tower is now open to the public during the summer months. A ten foot wide paved pathway leads from the parking lot to the lighthouse, allowing those with disabilities easy access the base of the lighthouse. Tours run daily from 10am to 5pm, beginning in late May and lasting through September.

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