Environment

Want to buy a Great Lakes lighthouse?

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By JOSH BENDER
Capital News Service
LANSING — If you’re in the market for some truly unique property, four Lake Michigan lighthouses are up for auction by the federal Government Services Administration. For sale: The North Manitou Offshore Lighthouse near the Manitou Islands, the Minneapolis Shoal Lighthouse at the entrance to Little Bay de Noc in the Upper Peninsula and the White Shoals and Grays Reef lighthouses, both between Emmet County and Beaver Island. The North Manitou Offshore Lighthouse began operating in 1935. It was one of the last lighthouses run by an actual crew until it became automated in 1980, according to Great Lakes lighthouse historian Kraig Anderson’s Lighthouse Friends database. The White Shoals light began operating in 1910, according to the University of North Carolina Lighthouse Directory.

Government

Dig discoveries shine light on lighthouses

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By LAUREN GIBBONS
Capital News Service
LANSING — The grounds surrounding Michigan’s oldest surviving lighthouse could see an archaeological excavation as experts work to learn more about the past while preserving it. The Fort Gratiot Light Station in Port Huron was built in the 1820s and was transferred to St. Clair County from the U.S. Coast Guard as a historic site in 2010. It was built just north of the site that formerly held Fort Gratiot, a post built in 1814 and occupied by soldiers intermittently until 1879. Now the local recreation department is searching for appropriate spots to dig for artifacts.