Sand Hills Light
Sand Hills Lighthouse
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| Location | Ahmeek, Michigan |
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| Coordinates | 47°23′31″N 88°22′13.5″W / 47.39194°N 88.370417°WCoordinates: 47°23′31″N 88°22′13.5″W / 47.39194°N 88.370417°W |
| Year first constructed | 1919 |
| Year first lit | 1919 |
| Automated | 1939 |
| Construction | Yellow brick |
| Tower shape | Square |
| Markings / pattern | natural with black lantern and trim |
| Height | Tower - 91 feet (28 m) |
| Focal height | Focal plane - 93 feet (28 m) |
| Original lens | Fourth order Fresnel lens with bullseye |
| Current lens | none |
| Range | 16 nautical miles; 29 kilometres (18 mi) |
| ARLHS number |
USA-721 |
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Sand Hills Light Station
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| Nearest city | Mohawk, Michigan |
| Area | 55 acres (22 ha) |
| Architect | Park, Charles A. |
| Architectural style | Classical Revival |
| NRHP Reference # | 94000746 |
| Added to NRHP | July 27, 1994 |
USA-721
Sand Hills is a formerly active lighthouse on the shore of Lake Superior converted into a bed and breakfast. It is located in Ahmeek in Keweenaw County Michigan in the Keweenaw Peninsula, which is the northern part of the Upper Peninsula. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.
From 1857 until 1908, Eagle River Light was the only lighthouse between the Keweenaw Waterway and Eagle Harbor Light. With the end of the copper boom in the 1870s the Eagle River, Michigan harbor started to decay. "By the 1890s, it seemed the only ship coming into the harbor was the lighthouse service tender." It was recommended to build a new lighthouse at Sand Hills where most of the lake traffic passing and to decommission Eagle River.
A lighthouse at Sand Hills was authorized by Congress in 1893, but no funds were allocated for its construction. Meanwhile, the Eagle River Light was decommissioned and sold in 1908, leaving no navigation light in the area. Sand Hills Light was finally commissioned in 1917, in part as a response to a number of ships that had run aground on the nearby Sawtooth Reef since the dismantling of the light at Eagle River. Sand Hills is about halfway between Eagle Harbor Light and Ontonagon, Michigan.
The lighthouse was completed in May 1919 and was in service for 20 years as a manned aid to navigation operated by 3 keepers. The site includes an oil house, garage, barracks building (1916, and used in World War II, and a concrete breakwater (1917).
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