Cheboygan Crib Light, Crib lighthouse at Gordon Turner Park in Cheboygan, United States
Cheboygan Crib Light is an octagonal iron tower at the mouth of the Cheboygan River in Michigan, built on a timber crib foundation set directly in the water. The tower has a white exterior and a red lantern room at the top, designed to guide vessels through the dredged channel leading into the river.
The tower was built in 1884 to mark the entrance of the dredged channel into the Cheboygan River for passing ships. In 1984, exactly a century later, it was relocated from its original position, ending its active role at that site.
Local residents nicknamed this tower 'The Dummy' after it was automated in 1929 and no longer needed a keeper to run it. The name stuck in the community as a way of marking the change in how the waterfront was managed.
The tower can be seen from Gordon Turner Park at the end of Water Street in downtown Cheboygan, with an open view from the shoreline. No special equipment is needed to take in the full structure from the park.
The tower was originally fitted with a fourth-order Fresnel lens that sent out a red flash every 4 seconds over Lake Huron. This pattern helped mariners tell this particular channel entrance apart from other lights in the area.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
