The skeletal light sits adjacent to the fog signal building and was the primary light for the final third of the station’s history.
Skeletal lights were an attractive design as they cost less than a stone or brick tower of the same height. They could be assembled fairly quickly and, if need be, disassembled and relocated to a new location either within a station or to a new station. Every part of the tower is numbered and documented.
It is approximately 100 feet tall with a pyramidal shape. It was part of the third iteration of steel towers, the “Sanibel Class” lights, being one of 17 such lights built from 1884 to 1910. This structure was originally constructed in 1905 on Sapelo Island, Georgia, disassembled in 1933, shipped to Michigan, and reassembled at the South Fox Island Light Station in 1934, replacing the original light. The square tower base, which measures 28 feet square, rests on nine concrete pier footings.
The skeletal structure consists of five vertical sections consisting of six-inch diameter vertical struts, three-inch diameter and four-inch diameter horizontal struts, and smaller tension rods. The center post is eight inches in diameter and supports the six-foot diameter stairwell. The structure tapers to a 10-foot square at the top where it supports the watch room and lantern.
When originally installed in Georgia, the tower was accessed via a nearby building. At South Fox, a catwalk was built connecting the Fog Signal to the light. The catwalk was removed after the station was decommissioned. The light tower is, today, accessible only by ladder, providing access to the stair tower entry platform at level one, approximately 20 feet above grade.
The circular Watch Room is approximately 4.5 feet in diameter. The Lantern room above is surrounded by a two-foot wide exterior deck with a black metal railing.
The Lantern room floor contains a series of eight deck light units each made up of seven hexagonal glass pieces, providing light to the floor below. The optic was removed when the station was decommissioned.
For a short virtual tour, click here.
