Little Sable Point Light stands on the Lake Michigan shore in western Michigan and became an important aid to navigation after demands for safer passage followed the schooner Pride's loss in 1866. Funded in 1871 and begun in 1874 at an isolated dune site, the lighthouse was designed by Col. Orlando M. Poe and built on deep wood pilings with unusually thick brick walls. Its appearance changed from natural brick to white in 1900, then back to brick in 1975. Automated in 1954, it still uses its original Third Order Fresnel lens, a rarity in the United States, and remains an active light and preserved historic landmark.