In early 2016, after a fresh snowfall had settled across Michigan’s lower peninsula, I set out to follow the Lake Huron shoreline north. The roads were quiet, fields and fence lines reduced to white planes, and each stop felt slightly removed from season and routine.

The first stop was in Bridgeport, where a dusting of snow had gathered on the bridge deck and ground surrounding the 1906 Pratt through truss. Built by the Joliet Bridge & Iron Company of Illinois at a cost of $7,995, the bridge originally carried horse-drawn traffic and later automobiles. Tolls retired the construction debt by 1913. It closed to vehicles in 1976 but remained open to pedestrians.

A comprehensive rehabilitation began in 2010 under a $2.3 million program that dismantled the structure for off-site restoration before reassembly. A failing pier, found to be rotating, was rebuilt to prevent collapse. Today, the crossing is one of six surviving late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century multi-span through-truss highway bridges in Michigan and one of only two examples in the state built by Joliet.

From there, I followed US Route 23 north along Lake Huron, where the shoreline opened, and the wind carried snow across the shoulders of the road.

Sturgeon Point stands where a shallow reef extends more than a mile into the lake, an enduring hazard to nineteenth-century navigation. The masonry tower, marked in white with a red band, rose from a quiet, snow-covered parkland when I arrived. Though modern aids have assumed much of their function, the light continues to define this reach of the coast.

Established in 1870, the station responded to increasing vessel traffic along Lake Huron’s northeastern shore. The keeper’s dwelling and outbuildings now interpret daily life at the light during the shipping season. Nearby rests the Bernice D., a gasoline-powered fishing boat that once worked the Black River and is preserved beside the station. The relocated Bailey School, a 1907 Norway pine log structure built for logging camp families, further anchors the site in the region’s working past.

The Bernice D. was a gasoline-powered fishing boat that once operated on the nearby Black River. It is now preserved and displayed next to the lighthouse.

Nearby stands the Bailey School, built in 1907 of Norway pine at the site of the C.A. Johnson logging camp west of Mikado. Constructed for the children of logging crews and named for a lumberman who helped build it, it is one of the few remaining one-room log schoolhouses in the state. Partially restored in 1973, the structure was later disassembled, moved, and fully restored in 1998 to its present location at Sturgeon Point. Maintained by the Alcona Historical Society, it is furnished with period pieces, including a recitation bench, student desks, a drinking pail, and a coal stove.

Continuing north, the road curved toward one of the lake’s most protected natural harbors.

Presque Isle—presque île, “almost an island”—forms one of Lake Huron’s safest harbors of refuge. Native travelers and French voyageurs once portaged across the narrow neck of land to avoid open water. As shipping increased, Congress appropriated funds in 1838 for a lighthouse, and Jeremiah Moors of Detroit completed the first tower in 1840. It remains among the oldest surviving lighthouses on the Great Lakes. Patrick Garrity, appointed keeper by President Abraham Lincoln, raised a family there; four of his children later entered lighthouse service.

Growing traffic led to the construction of the taller New Presque Isle Light in 1871. Its 113-foot brick tower, the tallest on the Great Lakes, still carries its original Third Order Fresnel lens and remains active, now automated. Range lights built in 1870 once guided vessels precisely into the harbor channel. In winter, the complex was quiet, the tall tower rising above a muted shoreline.

The final stop lay farther north along a broad, open reach of water.

In 1869, the U.S. Congress appropriated $7,500 to construct two range lights marking the channel into Presque Isle Harbor. Orlando M. Poe submitted the plans in May 1870, and by August the lights were in operation, allowing mariners to align them for safe entry into the harbor. In 1967, the front range light was replaced by a light mounted on a pole, and the original structure was relocated near the Old Presque Isle Lighthouse. The township acquired the building in 1995 using state funds and private donations, and in 2002 it was moved closer to its original site.

Presque Isle Harbor is one of Lake Huron’s safest natural harbors of refuge, its name derived from the peninsula that forms it—presque île in French, meaning “almost an island.” Native Americans and early French voyageurs portaged across the narrow strip of land to avoid several miles of exposed open water. As maritime traffic increased, Congress appropriated $5,000 in 1838 for a lighthouse, which Jeremiah Moors of Detroit completed in 1840; today, it stands as one of the oldest surviving lighthouses on the Great Lakes. The last keeper, Patrick Garrity, was appointed by President Abraham Lincoln, and four of his children, raised in the keeper’s dwelling, later became lighthouse keepers themselves.

Presque Isle Harbor is one of Lake Huron’s safest natural harbors of refuge, its name derived from the peninsula that forms it—presque île in French, meaning “almost an island.” Native Americans and early French voyageurs portaged across the narrow strip of land to avoid several miles of exposed open water. As maritime traffic increased, Congress appropriated $5,000 in 1838 for a lighthouse, which Jeremiah Moors of Detroit completed in 1840; today, it stands as one of the oldest surviving lighthouses on the Great Lakes. The last keeper, Patrick Garrity, was appointed by President Abraham Lincoln, and four of his children, raised in the keeper’s dwelling, later became lighthouse keepers themselves.

In 1871, the New Presque Isle Light was placed into service and remains active today, now automated and electrically illuminated. Its 113-foot brick tower is the tallest lighthouse structure on the Great Lakes. The lantern still houses the original Third Order Fresnel lens, which has a range of more than 10 miles. The keeper’s family resided in an attached two-story dwelling, now operated as a museum. Front and rear range lights, constructed in 1870, once marked the harbor channel for approaching vessels.

In 1871, the New Presque Isle Light was placed into service and remains active today, now automated and electrically illuminated. Its 113-foot brick tower is the tallest lighthouse structure on the Great Lakes. The lantern still houses the original Third Order Fresnel lens, which has a range of more than 10 miles. The keeper’s family resided in an attached two-story dwelling, now operated as a museum. Front and rear range lights, constructed in 1870, once marked the harbor channel for approaching vessels.

In 1871, the New Presque Isle Light was placed into service and remains active today, now automated and electrically illuminated. Its 113-foot brick tower is the tallest lighthouse structure on the Great Lakes. The lantern still houses the original Third Order Fresnel lens, which has a range of more than 10 miles. The keeper’s family resided in an attached two-story dwelling, now operated as a museum. Front and rear range lights, constructed in 1870, once marked the harbor channel for approaching vessels.

Forty Mile Point Light occupies a low bluff roughly forty miles north of Alpena. Its square white tower is integrated into a red-brick keeper’s dwelling, a practical late-nineteenth-century design common to the Great Lakes. The horizon there felt uninterrupted, the lake stretching gray beneath a winter sky.

Along the shore lies the remnant of the wooden steamer Joseph S. Fay. Built in 1871 at Cleveland for the iron ore trade, she grounded near the light on October 19, 1905, after violent winds parted her towline. Most of the crew survived when the forward cabin broke free and washed ashore, though First Mate David Syze drowned. Portions of the wreck remain visible in shallow water near the station, a reminder that these lights marked not only routes of commerce, but the margins of risk.

Forty Mile Point Light stands along the Lake Huron shoreline in Presque Isle County, Michigan, on a low bluff overlooking a broad, open reach of water.

The wooden steamer Joseph S. Fay was built in 1871 at the Quayle & Martin shipyard in Cleveland, Ohio, as one of the early Great Lakes freighters designed for the iron ore trade. She operated for more than thirty years with her consort, the schooner D. P. Rhodes, both owned by the Bradley interests and known for their distinctive green hulls and red stacks. On October 19, 1905, while downbound on Lake Huron from Escanaba to Ashtabula with iron ore, the Fay and the Rhodes encountered violent winds and heavy seas. The towline parted as the vessels rolled in opposite directions, tearing away part of the Fay’s stern; she began to sink and ran aground near Forty Mile Point Light. Most of the crew survived after the forward cabin broke free and washed ashore intact, but First Mate David Syze drowned in the frigid water. The wreck later settled in shallow water, and portions of the hull remain visible along the beach near the light station.

By the time I turned south, the shoreline had begun to fade into evening. Snow continued to gather along the lake, and each light, bridge, and beacon alike stood as a fixed point against the season.