Big Bay Lens
Having the Big Bay Lighthouse lens onn display is a real plus to the Museum and we are deeply indebted to the Big Bay Lighthouse Bed and Breakfast for it's loan. The lens is one of the rare Fresnels privately owned.
The Big Bay Lighthouse is located approximately 25 miles northwest of Marquette and was a critical link in the chain of lights guiding vessels along Lake Superior’s south shore.
The lens is a third order fixed Fresnel. It is called fixed because it does not rotate in contrast to the Stannard’s Rock lens. Note that the middle belt lens panels are smooth while the Stannard’s Rock ones have the bulls eyes.
The lens stands about 12 feet tall on the pedestal and weighs about a ton. It’s nominal range is 18 miles.
To provide the flash characteristic necessary to differentiate Big Bay Lighthouse from others along the coast, the pedestal was fitted with a mechanism to rotate a series of opaque panels around the lens. In other words where the Stannard’s Rock lens rotated, the Big Bay lens was stationary and the panels rotated. The Museum plans to recreate the panel rotation mechanism in the future as part of the exhibit.
