Finally… I can mark off the Marquette Harbor Lighthouse from my lighthouse list! So I’m a perfectionist when it comes to certain things, and that’s checking off lighthouses from my list. My rule is: if I’m ABLE to go inside, then I won’t mark it off until I actually go inside. So I’ve seen this lighthouse several times dating up to 10 years ago, but this is the first time I actually went on the tour and saw the inside! So now I can officially add it to my list! This is one of my favorite lighthouses now too… I think a big part of it is just the symbolism of Marquette and how much that town means to me. But I did a little roundup for a friend recently of my top six Michigan lighthouses and I noticed that all of them have a pop of red or ARE red, so I didn’t realize I was drawn to that as much as I am either! Anyway… let’s take a tour and peek at the Marquette Maritime Museum too!

So the Marquette Harbor Lighthouse is just… an iconic scene in Marquette. One of my favorite things as I’m driving into Marquette is seeing it from 41 on your way into town. It’s just a beauutyyyy. The house I was staying at was just a short walk from here, so I’d come over often at golden hour to watch the sunset and watch the waves roll in. But anywayyyy, on this day, I walked down to the museum and got tickets for the lighthouse tour. They offer it up 2x a day mid-May through mid-October. I strolled through the maritime museum first waiting for the tour… lots of shipwreck and lighthouse history. Definitely fun to check out!

Stannard Rock Lighthouse Second Order Fresnel Lens

But yeah, you meet at the museum and a tour guide walks you over to the lighthouse and gives you a tour of the grounds! We had a small group of three — another couple visiting from Madison, WI. Our tour guide was super interesting too! He was a local and grew up in the area and had a bunch of stories about Marquette’s history and the lighthouse itself. Apparently this lighthouse is HAUNTED too, a lightkeeper’s daughter drowned… and apparently they were repainting the floors of the lighthouse in more recent years and noticed footsteps appear in the wet paint, even though no kids had been around. 👻 Ooooh! But yeah, the lighthouse we see here was built in 1866 (there was one prior built here in 1853), and has been extensively modified over the years. It wasn’t until 1965 that it was painted red! ❤️

Being able to walk out on the walkway was my favorite part though! I was always too hesitant to jump the fence before, hahaha. My trespassing days as a young blogger are maybe behind me now. I don’t know. But I played by the rules this time, and waited until I had the official tour! The tour guide let me stay behind for a while to snap some pictures with my tripod. 😊 But yeah, this lighthouse itself is beautiful, in a beautiful location, and I love all of the different vantage points of this light… from the path in front, to McCarty’s Cove to the top of Mt. Marquette. Be sure to visit if you’re in Marquette, and if you’re there May-October, get that tour!!