Muskegon’s South Pierhead Lighthouse Summer Tours Offered

June 9, 2023

 

The Muskegon South Pierhead Lighthouse on the opening of 2023 summer tours on Memorial Day. (courtesy of Larry Taylor)

For immediate release

MUSKEGON, MI (June 8, 2023) – As the City of Muskegon works on taking ownership of the two historic lighthouses at Pere Marquette Park on Lake Michigan, the Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy will open the South Pierhead Lighthouse to the public again this summer.

A couple from the eastside of Michigan take the first tour this summer coming down the 54-step ladder from the lantern room. (courtesy of Larry Taylor)

 The non-profit MLC has been providing tours and historic interpretation of the Pierhead lighthouse since 2015 while it has worked on critical rehabilitation plans for Muskegon’s South Break Wall Lighthouse.

With cooperating weather and available MLC volunteers, the South Pierhead Lighthouse is open this summer from Memorial Day through Labor Day, Friday through Monday 1-5 p.m. Public access to the south pierhead is available on the northwest side of the

famed Muskegon Ovals through the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and U.S. Coast Guard properties along the Muskegon Channel..

Nina Merriweather at the lighthouse gift shop

The cost to tour is $5 dollars for adults with students and military veterans $3 with further donations to preserve the lighthouses welcome. The tour includes hearing historic information about the 1903 South Pierhead Lighthouse, viewing lighthouse artifacts in the base and having the opportunity to climb the 54 steps to the view the harbor from the working lantern room.

“The view is just beautiful looking out the portholes and from the top,” said Nia Merriweather, the MLC’s volunteer coordinator and gift shop manager. “You need to go to the top to experience it.”

The MLC leases a small chalet from the City of Muskegon at the beginning of the trail through the federal government installations, leading to the pierhead. Merriweather – a St. Mary’s College business administration student studying communications andA family visiting from Louisville, Ky. at the gift shop after their lighthouse tourmarketing who was born and raised in Muskegon Heights – said she really didn’t understand the beauty and historic significance of the lighthouses growing up.

The Muskegon City Commission in May gave staff the go-ahead to bring a final decision back to it for the city to purchase and maintain the two lighthouses through the National Lighthouse Preservation Act administered by the National Park Service. Initial rehabilitation work on the 1930 South Break Wall Lighthouse will be funded through an $800,000 special state legislative grant sponsored by former state Rep. Terry Sabo of Muskegon.

For full information on the Muskegon Lighthouse Project, see the Muskegon Connect page at: Muskegon, MI: Muskegon Lighthouses (civilspace.io) Volunteers can sign up to help develop a local “friends of the lighthouse” non-profit here: Muskegon, MI: Muskegon Lighthouses: Friends of Muskegon Lighthouses Interest Form (civilspace.io)

 For more information on the summer tours, contact:

Nia Merriweather
Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy
[email protected]
Text her at 231-736-3473

 

 

Photo 1: The Muskegon South Pierhead Lighthouse on the opening of 2023 summer tours on Memorial Day. (courtesy of Larry Taylor)
Photo 2: A couple from the eastside of Michigan take the first tour this summer coming down the 54-step ladder from the lantern room. (courtesy of Larry Taylor)
Photo 3: Nina Merriweather at the lighthouse gift shop
Photo 4: A family visiting from Louisville, Ky. at the gift shop after their lighthouse tour