As the nation’s population and economy expanded during the 19th century, shipping traffic on the Great Lakes increased and faced dangers from violent storms, thick fog, shifting sandbars, rocky reefs, and heavy vessel traffic. The federal government built a network of lighthouses to make transportation safer, and after Lieutenant G.J. Pendergrast of the U.S. Navy surveyed Lake Huron in 1837, he recommended a light at Presque Isle to help vessels enter the harbor on stormy nights. The tower, with hand-hewn stone steps, was completed in 1840, followed by the Presque Isle Range Lights in 1870 and the New Presque Isle Lighthouse in 1871 to improve navigation along Lake Huron’s hazardous shores. Today eight lighthouses stand within Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, which protects the Great Lakes and their rich history through research, education, and community involvement while preserving maritime heritage and shipwrecks. Among the sanctuary’s notable wrecks is the 137-foot schooner Typo, built in 1873 and lost on October 14, 1899, after the steamer V.H. Ketchum collided with it in Lake Huron’s busy shipping lanes, tearing apart the schooner’s stern and causing it to sink quickly with the loss of four crew members. The Typo now rests upright in 180 feet of water, still full of coal, with its forward mast standing, its main and mizzen masts broken across the deck, its bell hanging at the foredeck, and its anchors still lashed to the bow.