Sander Scott and his dog DeeDee visit Leelanau State Park to talk with Stephanie Staley, Executive Director of the Grand Traverse Lighthouse Museum, about the 1858 lighthouse, King James Strang's raids on Beaver Island, and a 37-acre property listing nearby.
Hi, I'm Sander Scott and this is my co-host DeeDee, my trusty border collie, and this is American Dream TV. We are at Leelanau State Park at the very, very tip of the Leelanau Peninsula. You cannot go any farther north on the Leelanau Peninsula than Leelanau State Park. We're going to check out the Grand Traverse Lighthouse Museum, which is a small part of a much bigger state park here at the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula. Come check it out, let's take a look. So I'm here with Stephanie Staley, Executive Director of the Grand Traverse Lighthouse Museum at the very, very tip of the Leelanau Peninsula, and we just really want to learn all about the lighthouse.
Great, great. Well, welcome. Thanks for coming out. So the lighthouse was originally built in 1852. This building here was built in 1858. It's the second lighthouse. We're at the very tip. To the north of us, 25 miles, is Beaver Island, and then to the west of us are the Manitous.
There is quite a story as it relates to Beaver Island and King James Strand, right? So what's the— what's allegedly what happened with him?
So legend has it that he had some of his people actually raid the lighthouse in 1853, once in the fall and once in the spring, and they took all the supplies and all the food and everything.
And he did. It's not the only raid that he's alleged.
No, he raided houses from here all the way around the Gill's Pier and even south towards Manistique.
If you're not familiar with King King James Strand. That's something you'll want to check out. That legend about— it's more than a legend. I mean, he really did claim himself to be a king.
He did.
And you can check that out with Beaver Island history. And when I was a kid, there was a Boy Scout cabin in the Illinois State Park. At that time, the light, it would spin around.
Yes.
And now it just flashes.
Correct.
Well, yeah, when I was a little boy, it would spin. And we'd play kick the can right out here and use the timing of the spinning of the light to make our, make our goal for the can, you know. But I have a lot of great memories out here at Leelanau State Park. So what makes this 37 acres that I have listed so special is that it's so private, so secluded. It's adjacent to Leelanau State Park, and then catty-corner across, uh, Lighthouse Point Road, you've got the Leelanau Conservancy trails and land. So you're surrounded by protected land from development. It is private, secluded, and you're just out here in nature. So we're here on North Cathead Bay Drive. This is sort of a natural entrance into this 37 acres that I have listed, again adjacent to Leelanau State Park and right catty-corner from Leelanau Conservancy property. We're going to take a short walk in here. We're not going to walk the whole 37 acres because 37 acres is just a lot of land. I'm Sander Scott and this is DeeDee and we are living the American dream.
