Watch CBS News

Lake Michigan Lighthouse For Sale Through Online Auction

SKILLAGALEE ISLAND, Mich. (WWJ/AP) - A lighthouse constructed in 1888 on an island in Lake Michigan is up for sale to the highest bidder.

The Petoskey News-Review reports that an online auction started July 1 for the Isle Aux Galets lighthouse on Skillagalee Island.

The active lighthouse is on the National Register of Historic Places and is being sold through the U.S. General Services Administration. The new owners will be required to maintain the light following government standards for treating historic properties.

Skillagalee Island is about eight miles offshore of Cross Village in northern Michigan's Emmet County.

General Services Administration spokeswoman Catherine Langel says "Isle Aux Galets is available for sale because advancements in navigation technology have reduced the Coast Guard's requirement to own and operate houses."

French explorers named the island Isle aux Galets, (or Isle of Pebbles) but subsequent English-speaking inhabitants of the area had a hard time pronouncing the name, and it eventually transformed into Skillagalee.

Lighthouse Service records initially used both names when referring to the lighthouse, but by 1889 Skillagalee started to be used exclusively. Around 1910, Ile aux Galets started to be used again, and it is listed by that name on modern light lists published by the U.S. Coast Guard. Interestingly, Skillagalee is actually a word that means a thin broth or gruel according to LighthouseFriends.com.

 

© TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.