Little Sable Point Light

History…

The Little Sable Point Lighthouse is 115 feet high and one of the tallest working lighthouses on Lake Michigan, visible for 19 miles. In continuous operation since 1874, it is a guardian to ships that pass the Silver Lake Sand Dunes at Mears, Michigan.

With the grounding of the schooner “Pride” on Little Sable Point in 1871, cries for the construction of a lighthouse at what was then known as Petite Pointe Au Sable swelled. In 1872, O. M. Poe, the Major of Engineers of the Eleventh Lighthouse District, wrote to the Lighthouse Board requesting that land for a lighthouse be reserved in the area. Congress appropriated $35,000 for the project, and 39 acres of land were selected on which to construct the new light station. Crews completed the project in 1873, at a cost of $28,886.

The original name given and used on most official records was “Petite Pointe Au Sable Lighthouse”. On May 9, 1910 the official name of the light was changed to “Little Sable Point Light Station” by the Lighthouse board.

It did not take long before mariners began complaining that the natural brick coloration made the tower difficult to see during daylight hours. As a result, the tower was painted white on September 24, 1900. The tower remained in its white painted condition until 1977, when the tower was sandblasted in an effort to reduce ongoing maintenance costs.

In December 1954, with electrical power extended to the station, the kerosene lamp was replaced with a 250-watt electrical lamp within the Fresnel lens. At this time, the rotating mechanism was also removed from the tower, giving the light a new fixed characteristic. With the station unmanned, the Coast Guard began to see the ancillary buildings as a liability, and in the first half of 1955 a crew arrived at the station and demolished everything but the tower.

The 39 acres of the original station are now part of the Silver Lake State Park, and a paved parking lot has been constructed a short distance behind the dunes, giving bathers a close path to the beach. The lighthouse is open for tours during the summer months.

Getting There…

Follow US-31 to the Shelby Road Exit. Follow Shelby Road west to B-15 (Scenic Drive). Follow B-15 to Silver Lake Road. Turn left onto Silver Lake Road (next to Mac Wood’s Dune Rides). Follow the winding, paved road to the Little Sable Point Light Station.

Clues…

Due east of the lighthouse, find two pair of isolated wooden posts flanking a faint trail that heads up a small sandy hill. Walk through the posts toward the treeline. Upon reaching the foundation, proceed northward along the treeline, down a hill to a gnarly oak on your right. Just past the oak, turn into the trees and head eastward about 50-60 paces to a tree with many arms, holding up a fallen neighbor. In the hollow base of the fallen tree find the letterbox.

NOTE… This is a very busy area during the summer. Please be discreet when searching for the box and carry it away from the hiding spot to stamp in. When replacing the box, make sure to wedge it in tightly so that it is not visible when walking past.

Silver Circus

In 1904 Bert Silver started tent shows and had the first motorized circus in the United States, with four touring cars, four trucks and an advance car. Two of the trucks were built by the Tower Truck Company of Greenville. The Silver Circus was headquartered in Crystal on what is now a township park overlooking Crystal Lake in Montcalm County. Bert and his entire family played in the Silver Family Concert Band as part of the circus and also in concerts.

In 1916 the circus had to be disbanded because the tents and trucks were confiscated by the U.S. Government for use in World War I. When the circus disbanded the family settled in Greenville.

Clues…

Find the park that now occupies the site that was once home to the Silver Circus. Check out the tree near the stone BBQ.

Wood Duck Letterbox

This letterbox is located at the Montcalm Community College Nature Trails. The trails are open to the public — see their web site for details.

Clues…

Find the Wood Duck between Twin Lakes and the Meadow in a stump 46 at 135 from 52.

The Roadside Table

Find the Michigan Historical Marker depicted in the photo below. Use the text on the marker to decipher the clues and find the letterbox.

Clues…

6-10 15-2 2-21 13-9 2-2 4-2 12-18 11-26 16-10 11-2 10-19 7-5 2-10 1-7 5-23 14-8 10-11 15-10 7-1 5-18 3-19 12-12

14-1 4-14 4-12 13-24 3-5 9-19 12-9 6-3 13-15 16-1 14-12 6-24 13-1 4-6 16-6 8-20 11-1 15-23 10-16 15-7 4-26 16-5 2-27 8-4 3-17

15-21 6-5 3-24 7-4 2-18 7-11 1-16 12-11 16-4 4-9 7-22 5-5 15-13 9-7 5-20 14-15 6-2 14-13 11-7

1-12 4-14 4-13 13-4 4-8 8-22 12-23 9-9 6-7 11-6 3-25 10-5 13-2 7-10 2-14 9-14 8-3 14-27 5-1 4-18 6-26 14-2 5-12 3-14 5-13 14-7 3-7 12-5

Morning Monster Mash

The 3 letterboxes in this series are part of a 15-box collection of boxes originally planted for the 2006 MI Fall Mystery Gathering (Cereal City Circus). The boxes are located at Fort Custer State Park in Battle Creek, MI.

A few additional notes:

• Much of Fort Custer Recreation Area is open to small game hunting this time of year. The ranger assures me they have not had an accident with a hunter and a hiker, but please be careful out there!
• Many of the trails at Fort Custer are shared with bicyclists and horses – watch for road apples and step to the side of the trail when bikes come through (or they will run you down).
• There is a lot of poison ivy in some areas of the park, so be careful as you hike and seek the letterboxes.

Clues…

On a sunny fall afternoon Frankenberry, Boo Berry and Count Chocula took off in search of a spot to hold their annual Monster Mash. Since they were sure the party would be rowdy, they headed as far away as the park road would take them. There they found a beautiful lake and a sandy trail heading from the parking area at 130 degrees.

They walked along the lake for a while before the trail turned away and took them through various landscapes – meadow, pine forests… After some time, they reached the intersection with a paved trail that looked like it had at one time been a road. Thinking that they had come back far enough, they started looking for nice hiding spots. Hoping to get lucky, they left the intersection, following the horseshoe and followed the trail until they came upon another horseshoe. This time a side path off to the left looked promising so they followed it as far as they could go. They looked around a little and decided it was a good spot. Boo volunteered to stay back while Frank and the Count looked a bit more. Boo spotted a fallen log at 325 degrees and slipped inside the hollow end, waiting for the others to return.

Frank and the Count headed back to the horseshoe intersection. They decided to follow the path at 275 degrees to a place that looked familiar, where they took a left. They walked through an area of creepy hanging evergreens, came out into a meadow area and then entered back into an area of brightly colored deciduous trees after rounding a hairpin turn. A short distance up the trail, they spotted something not natural to the forest on their left. Proceeding to the place on the trail where this object lay at 60 degrees, they noted a clearing on their right. They followed the clearing path 50 paces to a place where a 3-trunk poplar tree stood on the left and agreed this would also be a great spot. Frank volunteered to wait here while the Count went further up the trail. Frank spotted a fallen log at 155 degrees and slipped under it to wait for the Count to return.

The Count headed back out to the main trail and continued in a southerly direction. After passing through an area of large evergreens he could see the lake through the trees on the other side of the open field. The trail turned to the north and then rounded a hairpin turn as it headed up root steps. He walked for a while in a southerly direction until he came to the intersection with a less defined trail on his right. At 255 degrees he spotted another good spot and headed over to investigate. Hmmm, I think I’ll just rest for a minute right here in the end of this fallen tree.