OLD MISSION LIGHTHOUSE

Lying at the furthest point of Old Mission Peninsula is - you guessed it - Old Mission Point Lighthouse.

Mission Point Lighthouse has been a Traverse City and Old Mission Peninsula icon for decades.

 
Located at the end of a picturesque drive along M-37 through cherry orchards and vineyards, Mission Point Lighthouse stands as a classic piece of Michigan history.

 While it no longer guides mariners through West Grand Traverse Bay as it did from September 10, 1870 until it was decommissioned in 1933, Mission Point Lighthouse now offers visitors a peek into what life was like around the turn of the century for lighthouse keepers and for others who lived and worked in the area at the time.




This lighthouse has a unique feature in that the water is very shallow out front and there are many sporadic rocks dotting the surface of the bay giving it a special effect.





Another bonus to visiting lighthouses (similar to National Parks) is stamp collecting. Most of them have a rubber stamp and many are sharp looking. A $1.00 donation is recommended. Passport books specifically for this are offered, but I prefer to have my travel journal stamped, thereby combining some writing along with the random stamp. Something I picked up at Barnes and Noble.
This Lighthouse stamp was indeed interesting. It even had the 45th parallel line incorporated in it.