Page 10 - 2010 Lake St. Clair Guide Magazine

ing boat and aircraft navigation

Have you wondered what this from 1925 until 1937, when
tower is while boating on the
North Channel? the light was extinguished due

to its high operating costs.

Also, an inter-

esting note about the Colony

Tower's searchlight.... Many

times someone with a rifle took

shots to put out the revolving

light at night during prohibi-

tion when rum runners were

trying to cross the channels.

This Michigan Historic Structure is located Fireworks Along the Water
on M29, along the North Channel off Lake
St. Clair near Algonac. New Baltimore Belle Maer &
The Colony Tower was built in June 24 MacRay Harbor
1925 by the Chicago Bridge and Iron July 4...see pg. 40
Works. This steel-framed tower was the Algonac
main water supplier for "The Colony on the Port Huron, July 3 Grosse Pointe
Ste. Claire"; a secluded residential commu- July 3; must
nity established in Clay Township in the Vantage Point St. Clair
early 1920s. The Colony Tower marked the view by boat if a
entrance to the Will St. John estate, home June 26 July 4
of the real estate developer who founded non-resident
The Colony subdivision.
The 136-foot tower once housed a Mount Clemens Detroit-Windsor
60,000-gallon water tank. Constructed with July 2 www.theparade.org
curtain walls and steel plates to resemble a
lighthouse, it demonstrates the early twen-
tieth-century penchant for disguising the
utilitarian functions of highly visible struc-
tures. A light shone from atop the tower, aid-

Thtehecasltmormbe..fo..re
One of my favorite
photos from the
past 10 years is one
of the many storms
that roll over the
lake, catching a lot
of us off guard.
This was taken as
the storm was
covering Anchor
Bay and approach-
ing Bouvier Bay in
Fair Haven.

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