One of the hardest lighthouses to visit in Michigan is the Little Traverse Lighthouse in Harbor Springs. Due to its location in a gated community, access by land is severely restricted and the best views come from the water. We recently had a chance to see this lighthouse while on a Harbor Princess sunset cruise out of Petoskey. Today we will share a few photos from our visit and look at the history of this beautiful lighthouse.

The Little Traverse Lighthouse dates back to the 1880s and it features a square red brick tower attached to a two-story keeper’s house. It stands 41 feet tall. This lighthouse was in operation until the 1960s when it was replaced by a steel tower that stands 62 feet tall just east of the lighthouse.

The fog bell from the 1890s is still intact and stands in front of the lighthouse. Elizabeth Whitney Williams, one of the first female lightkeepers on the Great Lakes, was the first keeper to serve here and she remained for nearly 30 years. She wrote a memoir about her previous service on Beaver Island as well as her experience here at Little Traverse Lighthouse in A Child of the Sea and Life Among the Mormons (1905).

Our cruise on the Harbor Princess departed Petoskey and headed across the bay to Harbor Springs, where we got a quick view of the lighthouse on our way in and a longer one as we left and headed for Bay Harbor. If you don’t have your own boat this is a great way to see this elusive Michigan lighthouse!

Every three years the Harbor Springs Historical Society offers the rare opportunity to tour this lighthouse. It just so happens that the next tour is October 5^th of this year. Tickets are $75 per person and you can find out more on the HSAHS website or Facebook page.