U.S. #2971
32¢ Spectacle Reef, Lake Huron
Great Lakes Lighthouses
Issue Date: June 16, 1995
City: Cheboygan, MI
Quantity: 120,240,000
Printed By: Stamp Venturers
Printing Method: Photogravure
Perforations: 11.2 vertically
Color: Multicolored
During the early 1800s the Great Lakes Region experienced a rapid increase in population, industrialization, and commerce, especially after the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825. By 1852 there were 76 lighthouses operating on the Great Lakes.
The Spectacle Reef is actually a pair of shoals, seven to eleven feet deep at the Straits of Mackinac on Lake Huron. After two ships ran aground there in 1867, the U.S. Congress was easily convinced to appropriate the huge sums needed to build a lighthouse in this difficult environment. The lighthouse at Spectacle Reef cost $406,000 – which translates into over 4 million dollars in today’s money. Before work could begin, the wreckage of the last ship to fall victim to the reef had to be removed. It took four years to complete the lighthouse, which was built of limestone on top of a massive submerged foundation.