The light was built in northern Lake Huron about 11 miles east of the Straits of Mackinac to warn of a pair of reefs that are only 7-11 feet below the water’s surface. On navigation charts, the reefs appear similar to a pair of spectacles, hence the name.

Completed in 1874, after four years of work and at a cost of $406,000 the light was the most expensive ever built on the Great Lakes at the time.

A 95-foot conical limestone tower atop a concrete crib with 20′ thick walls to protect the structure from ice. The tower built of limestone quarried in Marblehead, Ohio and brought to the site. A small white building is attached to the base of the tower.