The Point Betsie Lighthouse is located on the Lake Michigan shore of Benzie county just south of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and just north of Frankfort, Michigan.  It marks the all-important entrance to southern end of the Manitou Passage, a once-vital maritime shipping channel. Although the lane is no longer used by large commercial vessels, the operating light signal remains a US Coast Guard aid to navigation to this day, and the site shines as a treasured landmark to mariners and landlubbers alike. The cylindrical tower, attached to the keeper’s house, is 39 feet tall.  The light sits 52 feet above the lake, because the structure was built on a dune.  A lifesaving station, a fog signal building, and an oil house are also among the structures on the site.  The Point Betsie Lighthouse is the most visited attraction in Benzie County.   It is second most photographed lighthouse in the USA.  Watching the sunsets from Point Betsie is a long-standing tradition.

The lighthouse was completed and the light was lit in 1858.  In 1874 the site was formally selected at a lifesaving station.  After completion of the structure, operations began in 1877. The fog-signal building was built in 1891, with the first horn sounding on Dec 31, 1891. The lighthouse was last manned light on Lake Michigan’s eastern shore until about 1983 or 1984, when the USCG automated the light. On June 2004 the Lighthouse property was transferred to Benzie County, with the Coast Guard retaining rights to operate the light, as well as ownership of the modern box house behind the lighthouse and the grounds on which that guest house sits. Through an operating agreement between Benzie County and the Friends of Point Betsie Lighthouse, Inc., the capitol assets will continue to be owned by Benzie County and operated by the Friends. The Friends have undertaken a complete restoration of the station. It has been repainted to its original color scheme. The future of the light house includes exterior restoration, development of exhibits, improved parking, and erosion control structures.