Spectacle Reef Preservation Society

Spectacle Reef Preservation Society The Society works to preserve and restore the Spectacle Reef Lighthouse in Lake Huron. Guarding the Eastern entrance of the Straits of Mackinac since 1874.

One of the other projects worked on by the latest work crew was needle scaling the stairs. It's long and tedious work, a...
08/25/2026

One of the other projects worked on by the latest work crew was needle scaling the stairs. It's long and tedious work, and can often test a volunteer's patience. The stairs in the tower are cast iron and have been painted over for 100+ years, hiding all of their original details in the iron under more than half an inch of paint in some areas. This is one section that was worked on. Under some of the paint the crew even found rubber baseboards that someone glued to the stairs at some point, whose removal proved to be challenging. But, perseverance and a few choice words got the rubber off. These still need to be wire wheeled and primed/painted, and there's still several more flights to go. But... It's progress!

One of the projects the crew worked on this past week was preparing for window installation. They worked on repairing th...
08/23/2026

One of the projects the crew worked on this past week was preparing for window installation. They worked on repairing the cast iron window frames from 1874, and installed these two temporary windows in the tower. The first one is looking North from the third floor bedroom (installed this week), the second is from the kitchen on Deck Two, looking out over the roof of the fog signal building (installed last week). Not only do these windows help with fresh air inside the tower, but this is the first season people have been able to look outside of the tower since 1972! Your donations have helped make this possible, and more that we will show in upcoming posts this week. Thank you!

You can donate to support the restoration or volunteer at www.spectaclereef.org

The final work crew of the season is back on shore after spending a week on The Reef. They made some great progress insi...
08/20/2026

The final work crew of the season is back on shore after spending a week on The Reef. They made some great progress inside the lighthouse this season! We'll post photos of their work in upcoming posts. Thank you for your incredible work this week and this season!

There are still some day trips planned as weather permits as we go into our final weeks of the season. Become a volunteer and donate to the cause at www.spectaclereef.org.

Good morning from Keeper Kathy on The Reef!
08/15/2026

Good morning from Keeper Kathy on The Reef!

Our final work crew of the season are on station tonight and captured this photo of the moon. All we can say is... Wow!!...
08/15/2026

Our final work crew of the season are on station tonight and captured this photo of the moon. All we can say is... Wow!!! Photo by Dean Wegener

Today a crew of volunteers make a trip to the light to haul some materials needed for upcoming projects. The materials i...
08/09/2026

Today a crew of volunteers make a trip to the light to haul some materials needed for upcoming projects. The materials include items for solar panels and battery expansion, roof painting, and the weather station at the light. The guys took a dip in the lake and swam for a bit before Sheplers showed up and visited. Thank you for your work and heavy lifting today!

Happy National Lighthouse Day from our Spectacle Reef family to yours!!
08/07/2026

Happy National Lighthouse Day from our Spectacle Reef family to yours!!

We love this photo of the lighthouse and The Reef. The deck has since had replica handrails installed, and the building ...
07/24/2026

We love this photo of the lighthouse and The Reef. The deck has since had replica handrails installed, and the building has been painted. Anyone with a drone want to come out to the light? You can also donate to help continue the restoration of the light here or on our website www.spectaclereef.org. Photo by Chris Roxburgh

Final morning for this work crew on The Reef.
07/17/2026

Final morning for this work crew on The Reef.

The work crew has been busy the last few days! The first day was spent cleaning and opening the lighthouse up. The last ...
07/15/2026

The work crew has been busy the last few days! The first day was spent cleaning and opening the lighthouse up. The last couple days they have made repairs to walls in the closet on the first floor. On deck five they removed the original workbench in the service closet due to dry rot and are replicating it. They also made repairs to the walls and painted it. Then on deck six (the service room, right below the lantern) they began the restoration of that room. On deck two, the kitchen, the crew installed the restored window frame that was taken to shore over the winter and installed a temporary window in it. The replica windows will be installed here, and the temporary one will move from floor to floor as each cast iron frame gets restored. Here are some photos we were sent by the crew. Progress!!!

Address

PO Box 75
Cheboygan, MI
49721

Telephone

+19897080442

Website

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