Lighthouse, Village & U.S. Lifesaving Station Complex
The first lighthouse on South Manitou Island was completed in 1840 with William Burton appointed as th63e first lighthouse keeper. The lighthouse which now stands on the island was not constructed until 1871. The U.S. Lifesaving Service station was established on the island in 1902, but in 1915 this was replaced by the U.S. Coast Guard and the station became part of this organization. The lifesaving station complex included not only the life saving buildings themselves, but also the nearby houses used by the lifesaving crew, many of which were built between 1914 and 1915.
The original village on the island, known as Burton’s Harbor, was focused around the old dock in the center of the harbor. This dock, as well as docks in Glen Arbor and Leland, allowed for communication and trade between the island and the mainland. As early as 1847 this village had a dock, grocery, barn, house, blacksmith’s shop, and even a post office in 1879.
As time went on, the location of the island village gradually shifted toward the area around the life saving station since the maintenance of the station replaced logging operations as the primary island activity. Logging ships no longer stopped at the island, and the old dock became expensive and difficult to maintain, while the dock used by the life saving service at the southern tip of the harbor was an easy alternative.
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