A Hidden Treasure in the Straits
On a clear day, we would have been able to see across the entire length of the Straits of Mackinac, but the day we visited St. Helena Island was a hot one, one shrouded in wildfire smoke hanging in the humid heat of the late July air. Yet the beauty, tranquility, and history of the island and its majestic lighthouse welcomed our arrival despite the haze.
Our Straits Area Community Foundation affiliate has held the St. Helena Island Lighthouse Endowment Fund since 1999. It was set up to restore, preserve, and protect the St. Helena Island Lighthouse and its surrounding buildings. My fellow staff member, DeeAnn Karos, traveled with me to learn more about this lesser-known island in the Straits. We wanted to see first-hand what has been done with the help of many people’s generous donations to the Fund, and to learn about what plans were in store for the future. I specifically asked DeeAnn to travel with me because, well, she isn’t afraid of snakes. And there are snakes. More on that later.
While Mackinac Island, with its tourist-filled streets, is the Michigan island everyone seems to know best, St. Helena Island lies about five miles west of the Mackinac Bridge and two miles off the southern shore of the Upper Peninsula. Tucked into the pristine, turquoise waters in the Straits of Mackinac, it is a truly unique, rugged, and magical place to experience. At 266 acres in size, St. Helena Island bustles in an entirely different way. There are guest lighthouse keepers helping with odd jobs around the island’s buildings and grounds; plenty of wildlife; tours of the island; and dedicated volunteers determined to preserve this Michigan maritime treasure for future generations. Among the island’s gems is the beautifully preserved historic landmark of St. Helena Island Lighthouse, built in 1873. If you’ve crossed the Mighty Mac, you will likely have seen the white lighthouse standing tall and marking the shallow shoal surrounding the island.
DeeAnn and I were greeted onshore in Gros Cap, just west of St. Ignace, by Mark VanderVelde. Mark has been volunteering as a summer lighthouse keeper and jack-of-all-trades on the island with his wife, Michele, for twenty years. We packed our phones, chargers, and “just in case” overnight clothes into dry bags. Then, we donned our lifejackets, waded out into thigh-deep water, and ungracefully boarded a 12-foot Zodiac inflatable, motorized boat to make the two-mile journey to St. Helena Island. There are several ways to get to the island, but this exciting way is reserved for volunteers and guest lighthouse keepers. Mark even took us over a shipwreck thought to have sunk while on its way to Chicago loaded with materials for rebuilding after the Great Chicago Fire. He showed us where the lively town on the island had been. There’s barely anything in its place now except for a spectacular swimming beach.
“The uniqueness of this place is that it’s hard to get here. You can’t just drive up,” Mark told us as we idled toward the landing dock. “Where do you go where you have a nature preserve and history in the same place, in such a unique location and experience? This place is unlike any other.”
And he was right.
Once we arrived at St. Helena Island’s volunteer dock (one that Mark says is greatly in need of replacement), the next person we met was Michele, who welcomed us right into the boathouse to give us our introduction to St. Helena Island. We were also greeted by a black water snake that, although startling at first, basked innocently on the shore’s rocks in the bit of sunshine that managed to break through the day’s haze. Like most islands in the Great Lakes, St. Helena Island is a haven for several kinds of harmless snakes. The truth is, though they can startle at times, they aren’t interested in hurting or chasing anyone. They just want to enjoy the day’s sunshine along with everyone else and they tuck themselves away when they’ve had enough. In fact, the island is teeming with wildlife of all kinds: rabbits, fish, ducks, butterflies, and eagles. St. Helena Island is home to one of Michigan’s approximate 900 breeding pairs of eagles, and we had a chance to watch the parents caring for one of their juvenile offspring. Hopefully next year others will be able to watch in real time with the help of a camera installed near the nest that can be livestreamed. Donations to the Fund will help that happen.
Learning about the rich history of the St. Helena Island Lighthouse and the island itself was fascinating, with stories of a bustling fishing community, a center for entertainment, and the lives of the lighthouse’s several keepers. It truly felt like stepping back in time (except for the cell signal and internet service). It took just minutes to get onto “island time”, where lunch happened only when we were hungry, tasks were interrupted only to do something enjoyable, and where everywhere you turned, there was something beautiful to see.
Mark and Michele are dedicated to keeping the lighthouse in tiptop shape. They move about the lighthouse grounds to keep up on painting, mending, and cleaning everything that needs attention. Their tours and host duties allow them to focus on educating and inspiring visitors of all ages to become preservationists by building appreciation for this hidden treasure. After all, people protect the places they love; and once you visit St. Helena Island, you can’t help but fall in love with it.
Inside the lighthouse quarters, the restoration is so well done that you can feel what this place was like in its prime. Today, guest keepers enjoy their meals in the same dining room where keepers and their families ate; relax in the same living space reading and gazing across the expanse of water toward the lower peninsula; and lay their heads at night in the same bedrooms after being worn out by a day of fresh air. Climbing the tower, you navigate the same stairs as past generations to 360-degree breathtaking views of the Straits.
“You can touch history here. The island and lighthouse’s remoteness make it magical. It’s a little more adventurous, too,” says Mark. “Your travel is weather dictated. You pump your water. There’s electricity, but only enough to run a fridge, freezer, and microwave. You shower outside. You can see the Mackinac Bridge and freighters off in the distance. And you can stay in the lighthouse. This one is so preserved, and you just don’t get that in other places.”
By the 1980s, long after being decommissioned, the whole lighthouse station had been abandoned, weather-beaten, and overgrown. Nearly every valuable item had been taken, and the structures were damaged by passersby who stopped at the island and found it empty. The Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association, or GLLKA, took ownership of the lighthouse in 1986, and began the long, arduous process of completely restoring the lighthouse, keeper’s quarters, and boathouse. Volunteers, including Boy Scouts troops from Ann Arbor and Calumet, spent countless hours working on the restoration and researching history to tell the island’s stories. Many generous individuals donated historically time-accurate furnishings to replace those that were taken, like antique furniture, tapestries, a victrola, kitchenware, and a pump organ.
“By establishing the St. Helena Island Lighthouse Endowment Fund, GLLKA has taken the steps to preserve this majestic lighthouse and welcome visitors with the hope they will grow to love it for the incredible place it is. Now it’s up to the next generation to continue protecting it through donations and volunteerism,” says Mark, who also serves on the GLLKA Board of Directors. “Without people’s support and donations, everything we’ve gained we’ll go backwards on. Like a lot of summer homes, this is a place that’s only lived in for a few months a year, so it needs to be kept up. Leaks pop up, wood rots, things need fixing.”
The St. Helena Island Lighthouse Endowment Fund has already provided $65,000 toward restoration and preservation expenses like re-roofing, artifact display cases, paint (all of which must be State Historic Preservation Office-approved), an automated external defibrillator (AED), a refrigerator and freezer, and restoration of the boathouse, oil house, and keeper’s quarters. The Fund also paid for three zodiac boats and motors, and 30 life jackets to safely transport volunteers and supplies.
Now, with the full restoration complete, GLLKA runs a summer guest lighthouse keeper program where people can spend a few days exploring the island, swim near secluded beaches, see wildlife, kayak, freighter watch, catch amazing sunrises and sunsets, climb the lighthouse tower, and perhaps even see the northern lights in the open expanse of dark sky.
“If people want, they can do some age and ability-appropriate tasks around the lighthouse and grounds to help with the upkeep, but we really want people to just enjoy this special place,” says Michele. “You can experience a little of what it may have been like to live on the island long ago.”
As for the future, Michele, Mark, and all the dedicated GLLKA volunteers hope people will continue to support the St. Helena Island Lighthouse because, though it is no longer used as a navigational beacon as it was in the past, its history is an important part of northern Michigan’s heritage.
“When people contribute, whether through a donation, volunteering, or being a guest light keeper for a few days and helping out, there is a sense of ownership,” says Mark. “People feel like they belong; like they’ve helped to do something positive. And they have.”
“We want to educate and inspire young people and build the next generation of preservationists,” Michele adds. “That’s what will keep this place alive.”
In the immediate future, donations to the St. Helena Lighthouse Endowment Fund will help GLLKA purchase a nest camera; rebuild and secure the landing dock, purchase additional kayaks for island guests, get new stoves, purchase historic replicas, and keep up on preservation.
Donations to support these efforts can be made at sacf.net. Contact the Community Foundation to set up a recurring donation to support GLLKA’s work on St. Helena Island.
So, if you’re looking for a new kind of adventure – one that’s truly unique, not only to our area, but to the whole nation, plan to spend some time visiting St. Helena Island’s and its lighthouse. But be forewarned: You might just fall in love with this place and want to keep forever keep it close to your heart, snakes and all.