First lit in 1849, the Whitefish Point Light shares honors with that at Copper Harbor for being the first lights on Lake Superior. It stands guard over the entrance to Whitefish Bay, sometimes the only shelter to be found for a ship trying to escape the fury of the lake. Whitefish Point is known as the Graveyard of Ships as more vessels have been lost here than in any other part of the lake. Hundreds of vessels, including the famed Edmund Fitzgerald, lie on the bottom of the bay and the approaches. The lighthouse marks the end of an 80 mile stretch of shoreline known as Lake Superior's Shipwreck Coast. This light has shined onto the big lake unfailingly for almost 150 years except for the night when the Edmund Fitzgerald went down. (info from exploringthenorth.com web site)
The Big Bay Point Lighthouse stands on a rocky point halfway between Marquette and the Keweenaw Portage Entry.
Situated on the edge of a sand bluff on the west bank of the Eagle river, has a focal plane of 61 feet.
