The Old Presque Isle Lighthouse, built in 1840, is located at the north end of Presque Isle Harbor; according to local legend, it is haunted. The New Presque Isle Lighthouse was built in 1870 and is the tallest climbable tower on the Great Lakes. Both lighthouses have museums, open seasonally to the public. The 1870 lighthouse museum houses a beautifully preserved Third Order Fresnel Lens which remained active in the tower until recent years. Both lighthouses guided sailors to Presque Isle Harbor, the only natural harbor between Detroit and Mackinac, and a critically important wooding station on Lake Huron in the days before coal burning steamships. The many reefs and rocky shoals up and down the coast from Presque Isle Harbor are home to dozens of shipwrecks within the protected waters of Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, which now extends from Alcona County to Cheboygan County.
The Old Presque Isle Lighthouse, built in 1840, is located at the north end of Presque Isle Harbor; according to local legend, it is haunt,ed. The New Presque Isle Lighthouse was built in 1870 and is the tallest climbable tower on the Great Lakes. Both lighthouses have museums, open seasonally to the public. The 1870 lighthouse museum houses a beautifully preserved Third Order Fresnel Lens which remained active in the tower until recent years. Both lighthouses guided sailors to Presque Isle Harbor the only natural harbor between Detroit and Mackinac, and a critically important wooding station on Lake Huron in the days before coal burning steamships. The many reefs and rocky shoals up and down the coast from Presque Isle Harbor are home to dozens of shipwrecks within the protected waters of Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, which now extends from Alcona County to Cheboygan County.