Late last year, daughter Cindy Hayden learned I was driving to Marquette, Michigan, and asked if a slight detour to L’Anse, at the foot of Keweenaw Bay, would be at all convenient.

“Not a problem,” I responded, but I had to add, “What in the world needs critical attention in the sleepy little town of L’Anse?”

My goodness, was I slated to learn an awful lot in the next 24 hours!

L’Anse, to our seasoned readers, is home of the awesomely beautiful bronze statue of Father Frederic Baraga created years ago by gifted sculptor Jack Anderson. I could easily get lost in describing this incredible priest who came here from Europe in 1830, changing for the better hundreds of lives in our western Great Lakes. Though not Catholic, I pause in the shadow of his burial cairn, which is part of the Cathedral in Marquette, quietly to thank the Lord again for Father Baraga’s many efforts.

Well, the religious side of L’Anse is in good hands, but sometimes the challenge of fishermen finding L’Anse after a day of good fishing used to be another problem when the fog came. What L’Anse needed, some believed, was a beacon - in fact, a lighthouse! One man especially believed a lighthouse was just the thing … and he went about building it.

So now, before I go any further, let me explain that I did stop in L’Anse, delivering the Lake Superior maps to Steve Koski, owner of Indian Country Sports. We eyed each other for a moment, then I broke the silence.

“Okay, Mr. Koski,” I finally ventured. “Just how in the world did you create this wonderful store - and a working lighthouse - in L’Anse, Michigan?”

I’m going to tell you Steve’s story, but first I must credit Nancy Besonen with detailing the whole adventure in an article published in the L’Anse Sentinel. So Nancy, I must say, “Thanks.” You are a fine writer!

The lighthouse at Indian Country Sports in L’Anse, Michigan, is an impressive design element for the building, but is also a working beacon for mariners navigating Lake Superior’s Keweenaw Bay. LAKE SUPERIOR MAGAZINE

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As Nancy points out, the demand for new lighthouses is almost nil. Between radar, Loran and GPS - the satellite-guided “Global Positioning System” - the fine art of finding one’s way in darkness or limited visibility includes a box of new tools. Those of us familiar with Lake Superior’s north shore watched in awe some years ago when the fabled Split Rock Lighthouse was decommissioned and shut off. But there was a time when it was so desperately needed that men climbed vertical rock walls and then hauled up the materials for the foundation on pulley ropes.

But while many old lights are being decommissioned, Steve Koski determined he would build a new one. It now beams out over Keweenaw Bay every night, with a range upwards of five miles. For the first time in memory, the U.S. Coast Guard has licensed a brand new, private lighthouse, seated on the waterfront in L’Anse. I’m sure Nancy smiled as she typed the description and location: Indian Country Sports!

Steve started work at the sporting goods store in 1968 when it was in a weathered and run-down old warehouse-type building, with plank floors. In 1977, he bought the business, which caters mostly to hunters, anglers and outdoor sportsmen and women. His understanding of the adjacent lake and the needs of visitors and locals made the endeavor a success. By 1995, it was time for a new store that would reflect the success of his years of toil. And it was time to keep the faith with his original hand-lettered sign which had included a small lighthouse. 

“I’ve always loved them,” Steve says. Here in his home area, he adds, “you can see a lighthouse from practically everywhere.”

“In the spring of 1995,” Nancy wrote, “Koski, family and friends commenced work on the new Indian Country Sports store, designed mainly by him and his wife, Anne.”

Local folk were skeptical about changing things from the old building, but when it became apparent this new building would reflect their love for lighthouses, it gained approval.

How many sporting goods store owners can claim to know the exact latitude and longitude of their business? Thanks to his lighthouse, Steve Koski, of Indian Country Sports in L’Anse, Michigan, can: 46° 45’ 28.2” north and 88° 27’ 21.3” west. LAKE SUPERIOR MAGAZINE

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The lighthouse rises from a corner of the store some 44 feet (646 feet above sea level), with a windowed top that lets the beacon shine through. The 2,500-square-foot store is wood-sided with windows and a muted color. The lighthouse portion is painted a gleaming white, a standout in both daylight and darkness.

L’Anse had wanted to develop its waterfront, and the new store project attracted skilled craftspeople who invested their time, talents and sweat. Steve says, “Some electrical, masonry and plumbing were contracted out,” but his father proved to be the main man on the job, with a lot of help from mutual friends.

The city of L’Anse also came through. The Downtown Development Agency, of which Steve is currently a member, created a new bandshell, playground, marina, fishing dock and a lighted walkway along its new waterfront.

While construction progressed smoothly, Steve admits that the lighthouse permitting process took almost two years from initial application to final approval. When he approached the Coast Guard, he was told there wasn’t even a permit in existence for a privately developed light. 

“That’s beside the point,” Steve says he told his contacts at the Guard. “You don’t know me. When I’m done, we’ll create a permit.”

Steve not only worked with the Coast Guard, he invited representatives from the city, township and county to admire the lighthouse and to gain their endorsements.

He finally received his Private Aid to Navigation Permit and switched his light on that same evening: March 17, 1997.

Steve says his lights can run off diesel, gas, electricity or solar power, and a new one can be purchased for up to $100,000. He leases his lens and lamp-changer from the U.S. Coast Guard and he - not the village - pays the bills for lighting and maintaining it. The light comes on at dusk and switches off at dawn, shining for one second, then dark for 2 1/2 seconds.

The six-bulb lamp-changer prevents the light from going dark, with bulbs lying in wait so that when one burns out, the next is activated between blinks. So far, though, he’s on the original bulb after two years.

Since his lighthouse has been built, Steve’s noticed recurring “lighthouses” in L’Anse construction. The new village hall has a tower and several private homes have added cupolas. 

“We’re getting a theme going,” Steve says. “This really puts L’Anse on the map again.”

Need I say more? On your next Lake Superior adventure - make L’Anse, Michigan, a required stop!

A selection of Jim Marshall’s columns of lake lore and his inland sea voyages has been published as Lake Superior Journal: Views from the Bridge by Lake Superior Port Cities Inc. Follow this link for more information.

Feedback: jrm@lakesuperior.com