Thorton led the way down the path , Followed by
Jane , who in turn was followed by Pete. The Granite
rocks were marbled with Quartz and Feldspar. Huge
boulders were exposed halfway from the earth. All
this natural beauty was formed millions of years ago
as the glaciers leveled mountain tops and dug out the
Great lakes. Gulls cried overhead as they made their
way down the rocky path. It was well cared for and
had no loose stone to cause a person to slip on, or
unsightly weeds. Jane knew this would be one of her
chores and inwardly was not looking forward to it, as
weeding was her least favorite task to perform. At
home it had always been put off as long as
possible.
At the base of the cliff they were
on a
level section of the path that was almost at water
level. Jane could see now why the path must be
closed during stormy weather. Waves would crash
across this section of the path and little would keep
a person from being swept off their feet and into the
waters. As the strip of land they were on wound
between some jagged rock formations, the strip of
land they were on became very narrow. In one spot it
appeared there was the path and nothing else before
the strip of land widened to become a large grassy
point where the lighthouse stood.
Eagles Point Lighthouse was built in 1882.
The
structure was almost completely original except for
the tiny Keepers cottage. The original Keeper lived
in the light tower for 6 years before building the
original cottage. The cottage was used by the second
Keeper of the light who brought his family here from
Detroit in 1910. Tragically they were all killed in
1915 in a freak storm that washed the entire cottage
away. The storm was still considered by the locals
as the worst storm to ever hit the Great Lakes. The
Tower itself withstood the storm, but was inspected
and re-mortered in 1916. The Cottage that Jane now
saw was built in 1916 as well. Over the years the
Light has warned ships of the rocky finger that
protrudes out into the lake. The Light was manned
until 1985, when the Coast Guard automated it as it
has all the Lights in America. Since then , every
summer the State of Michigan hires a caretaker/guide
to watch over the place and contuct tours of this
wonderful old piece of maritime history.
Jane was
sure she was falling in love with the place at first
sight.
To part 5
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