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Old Presque Isle Lighthouse 175th anniversary. Owen Davis is a former sports editor and wrote this piece for the Presque Isle Township Museum Society, a nonprofit which operates and helps to maintain the Presque Isle lighthouses. Whatever is causing these mysteries, the legend lives on. Some think former caretaker George Parris is one of the ghosts. And others, including some ghost hunters, have reported the presence of paranormal activity in the lighthouse and cottage. Many people have reported seeing a mystery light atop the lighthouse, even though it has no light source or electricity. Visitors today can climb the tower, inspect artifacts in the cottage and on the grounds and ring a 3,425-pound bell that once hung in the old Lansing City Hall clock tower. The property was sold at public auction in 1897 and remained in private ownership until 1995, when it was transferred to the township.
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It wasn’t until 1961 that the lantern room was replaced, complete with a nonworking Fresnel lens. The lantern room eventually was removed or destroyed, leaving the lighthouse with no cap. Soon after the Old Light ceased operation, its lantern and Fresnel lens were removed, and the lighthouse fell into disrepair. He then moved to the New Light and later was keeper of the range lights until his death in 1903. The last keeper at the Old Light was Patrick Garrity, who had been appointed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1861. But the lighthouse, built by Jeremiah Moors of Detroit, did have one advantage - it was the only revolving light in Michigan as late as 1849.
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The original Presque Isle light sat on a tower 32 feet high and used Lewis lamps, which Pepper said didn’t reflect well into the lake. People were proud to do it and wanted to do it.” “I don’t think it was a major financial hardship to be a lighthouse keeper. Woolsey, was paid $350 a year, but “the rate of pay for lighthouse keepers was a good living wage at the time,” said Terry Pepper, executive director of the Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association in Mackinaw City. Presque Isle’s first permanent light keeper, Henry L. The state has 129 lights, including 109 still active. The lighthouses - listed on the national and state registers of historic places - are part of a rich history in Michigan.