Lighthouses part of maritime legacy

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Chris Hardie stands on the deck at the top of the Michigan Island Lighthouse tower.

Sherry Hardie/For Agri-View

There’s no need for a defibrillator after Chris Hardie climbs the Michigan Island Lighthouse steps, but it was there, just in case.

Chris Hardie/For Agri-View

Michigan Island is about 16 miles from Bayfield, Wisconsin; it has two light towers.

Chris Hardie/For Agri-View

A modern lens that sits atop the Michigan Island Lighthouse tower is still in use.

Chris Hardie/For Agri-View

A more-powerful light is needed on Michigan Island; it's finally installed in 1929 when a tower is reconstructed. At 118 feet, it’s the tallest lighthouse in Wisconsin.

Chris Hardie/For Agri-View

The original Michigan Island Lighthouse dates to 1857. It was shut down a year later but refurbished and reactivated in 1869.

Chris Hardie/For Agri-View

The original Michigan Island Lighthouse and a newer tower are seen through orchard plantings. Roswell Pendergast, one of the keepers who was stationed on the island from 1869 to 1874, planted different varieties of apple, cherry, peach, plum and pear trees.

Chris Hardie/For Agri-View

Michigan Island is reached by climbing steps from a dock. A tram system was installed on top of the steps to carry supplies up the cliff.

Chris Hardie/For Agri-View

The small building at the foot of the Michigan Island Lighthouse tower has the date 1880 to mark when it was erected near Philadelphia.

Chris Hardie/For Agri-View

There are 138 steps – the equivalent of 11 stories – to the top of the Michigan Island Lighthouse tower.

Chris Hardie/For Agri-View

From atop the Michigan Island Lighthouse tower the view shows many miles out into Lake Superior. The light was automated in 1943.

Chris Hardie/For Agri-View

Raspberry Island and its lighthouse buildings stand atop a bluff. The lighthouse tower was built in 1862 and was activated in 1863.

Chris Hardie/For Agri-View

Part of the lighthouse grounds on Raspberry Island include a brick fog-signal building, left, added in 1903. A new building was constructed around the light tower in 1906 to house additional staff.

Chris Hardie/For Agri-View

The view from the top of the lighthouse tower on Raspberry Island is stunning.

Chris Hardie/For Agri-View

Smoke from the Canadian wildfires creates a hazy morning on Lake Superior near Bayfield, Wisconsin.

Chris Hardie/For Agri-View

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Chris Hardie For Agri-View

BAYFIELD COUNTY, Wis. – As a child of the farm, I think of livestock, barns and green fields when I picture Wisconsin.

Chris Hardie and his wife, Sherry, live on his great-grandparents’ Jackson County farm. Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 2001, he is a former member of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council and past president of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association. His book “Back Home: Country Tales by the Seasons” is available through Amazon.