Come Take a Tour of White River Light Station Museum in Whitehall, Michigan

Lighthouse touring, or crawling as my husband and I like to call it, is a popular vacation among Michiganians and other lighthouse buffs. We like to visit as many lighthouses as we can during each trip. The White River Light was the first one we stopped at during our trip to Muskegon. This light is no longer active but is now home to a museum.

Learn more about the light station and museum below. I've included some of the photos from our trip in hopes to encourage you to visit. This lighthouse visit was the perfect start to our vacation. I hope you enjoy the virtual tour.

The parking area was easy to find. We arrived before the museum opened, so we took a few pictures of the outside of the building. These first two pictures are views of the museum entrance (above) and the top of the tower from below (at right). We took tons of photos, but I'm only posting a few here to whet your appetite for lighthouse hopping along the Michigan shoreline.

Construction of the main White River Lighthouse began in 1875. Below are a few facts about the past and present of this light.

• The South Pier beacon light tower was built first and was named White River Pier-Head Light.
• The lighthouse was deactivated in 1960.
• The first light keeper was a local seaman named William Robinson.
• The South Pier beacon was originally fitted with a fifth-order Fresnel lens and kerosine lamp.
• The light station was first set up for electricity in 1918.

Compared to other lighthouse museums, this one is relatively small. But if you like learning about Great Lakes maritime history, you'll enjoy taking a stroll through the White River Light Station Museum.

The building is packed full of pieces from lighthouses and ships of the area.  There are also pictures lining the walls relating to the maritime theme as you can see in the picture of the entrance to upstairs portion of the museum below.

The main floor consists of a small gift shop where you can pick up souvenirs of your trip. We like to collect patches or decals to add to our growing collection as we travel to Michigan lighthouses, and we found a patch here depicting the light.

All of the levels are connected by the tower which has a spiral staircase. As you traverse these stairs, you gain an appreciation of the cramped quarters the lighthouse keepers and their families lived in.

We got a few pics once we reached the top of the light (see photo below). Even though we were the only visitors in the museum at the time, we didn't linger. It was a beautiful cool summer day outside, but the heat was building inside the small area at the top of the tower, so we took our photos and traveled back down the spiral staircase to the main level.

Below is the original fourth-order Fresnel lens from the main lighthouse on display in the museum. These lenses are named after the French physicist Augustine Fresnel. They proved to be so efficient in projecting and preserving the lights that they became mainstays in Europe and America until the advent of electricity. Learn more about Fresnel lenses at the Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy site.

This museum doesn't just host pieces from its own history. It has relics from area wrecks as well as examples of lighthouse life. Below is a display from the museum with one of the life rings from the famous shipwreck the Edmund Fitzgerald. There was also a display of a set of books from the United States Lighthouse Service (USLHS) Traveling Library. There was no TV in the early days of lighthouse keeping and reading material would have been welcome to break the often monotonous routine.

We were lucky enough to visit the light station on a perfect Michigan summer day. The water was calm, and the weather was cool and breezy. Below is a pic of the channel leading to the lake and a view of Lake Michigan. We took a leisurely walk to the end of the pier and got more photos. The walkway was easily accessible and several people were walking their dogs. There is also a beach area nearby where folks were enjoying the lake.

The museum is located at 6199 Murray Road, Whitehall, MI 49461. The phone number is 231-894-8265. You can learn more about the light at their website linked at right.

Lighthouse lovers won't be disappointed with a visit here. Even if you can only get away for a day trip, you're sure to appreciate the peaceful atmosphere and beauty of the area.

Reference:

• History. White River Light Station. 2009. Accessed December 2009.