Mendota (Bete Grise)

Type:
Year Established:
1870
Existing:
Yes
Source:
LL-1901
Mendota (Bete Grise)
Download:
File Type:
jpeg (image/jpeg)
Photo Date:
2008
Photo Credit:
Nancy Camp
Photo Courtesy of:
US Lighthouse Society Archives
Collection / Donor:

LOCATION

Location:
MENDOTA SHIP CHANNEL/LAKE SUPERIOR
Latitude:
47° 22'23"
Longitude:
87° 57'26"
City / Town:
BETE GRISE
U.S. State:
Michigan
Location County:
KEWEENAW
Country:
United States

OWNER & ACCESS

Open to Public:
Yes
Light List Data:
  1. Mendota (Bete Grise)
Light list data courtesy Gary Riemenschneider

STRUCTURE

Year Discontinued:
1956
Year Tower Established:
1895
Tower Construction Material:
BRICK
Height of light above mean high water, in feet:
44 FT ABOVE WATER
Height, in feet, from base of structure to center of lantern:
36.66 FT
Tower Shape:
SQUARE
Fog Signal Building?:
No
Keeper's Quarters?:
Yes
Year Keeper's Quarters:
1895
Keeper's Quarters Style:
T-SHAPED
Keeper's Quarters Construction:
YELLOW BRICK
Other Structures:
OIL HOUSE, 2-STORY BARN, PRIVY, BOATHOUSE, 2 DOCKS

OPTICS

Active Aid to Navigation?:
Yes
Current Optic:
FOURTH ORDER, FRESNEL
Original Optic Type:
FOURTH ORDER, FRESNEL
Year Original Lens Installed:
1895
Private Aid:
Yes
Year Automated:
1933
USCG Access to Optics:
No
Comments:

Historical Information:

  • The Name “Bete Grise” is French for “Gray Beast”, a Native American reference to the fog.
  • 1867: Congress approved $14,000 for a lighthouse to be built at the end of the pier.
  • 1870: The lighthouse was decommissioned, dismantled and moved to Marquette Breakwater.
  • 1870 – 1890:  Without an official light to mark the shoreline, a local woman, at the request of her husband, lit a kerosene lamp in her window to guide him home.
  • 1893: The Lighthouse Board authorized $7500 for a new light to be placed in the old keeper’s house.
  • 1895: $7500 was appropriated for a new lighthouse.
  • 1913: The light was electrified.
  • 1933: The light was automated.
  • 1956: The lighthouse was decommissioned and sold to private owners.
  • 1998: The light was re-lit as a private aid to navigation.
Entered by:
t.wheeler
Entered Date:
Jul 20, 2017