Establishment of the DeTour Reef Light Preservation Society
According to U.S. Coast Guard officials, advances in aids to navigation technology have made the DeTour Reef Lighthouse obsolete. Government regulations, however, do allow for private groups to obtain long-term leases on such excess property for the purpose of preservation.
In January 1998, civic leaders from DeTour Village and Drummond Island, Michigan, met to form the DeTour Reef Light Preservation Society, a nonprofit 501c3 organization. The purpose of the DeTour Reef Light Preservation Society (DRLPS) is to establish, support and promote efforts in the preservation and restoration of the DeTour Reef Light; to achieve the safe keeping of the building, artifacts and records; to educate and inform the public on lighthouse and regional maritime history; to enhance public awareness of the value this lighthouse and its keepers brought to our nation’s development; to make the DeTour Reef Light a premier tourist attraction in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula as the best example of a faithfully restored offshore lighthouse in the Nation; to provide the public safe access to the lighthouse; to raise awareness about the importance of volunteers in maintaining and preserving the DeTour Reef Light and the DRLPS for all present and future generations.
Please join the DRLPS in preserving this magnificent monument to Michigan’s maritime history – and we’ll keep the Light on for You!
