Au Sable Point Lighthouse

The Au Sable Light Station is located on Au Sable Point, originally called Point Aux Sables by the French, who named it for the nearby Grande Sable Dunes.

At least as early as 1622, when Pierre Esprit Radisson called it “most dangerous when there is any storms, Au Sable Point was recognized as a hazard to Lake Superior mariners. When lake traffic began to boom in the middle nineteenth century with the opinion of the Soo Canal (1855) the reef at Au Sable Point was particularly dangerous. Unless warned off, vessels could become victim to this reef of Jacobsville Sandstone which, in some places, lies only a few feet below the surface.

Mary Jarecki—the first wreck east of Twelvemile Beach is this wooden bulk freight streamer, victim of a July 4, 1883, stranding. The ship, heavily laden with iron ore, ran off its course and ground ashore in fog off the mouth of Hurricane River. Today, the remains may still be seen resting on the bare sandstone bottom just outside the breakers near the lighthouse. The long oak keelsons, studded with iron treenails, are just above water. No lives were lost in the incident.