From 1868 to 1939, Sand Point Lighthouse warned mariners away from the spit of land extending into Little Bay de Noc at the entrance to Escanaba Harbor. The U.S. Congress authorized its construction in 1864, shortly after the first railroad began hauling iron ore from the mines to docks at Escanaba. John Terry, the newly appointed keeper, died just before the light opened, so his wife, Mary, lit the lamp for the first time on May 13, 1868. Mary Terry served as keeper until March 1886, when she died in a mysterious fire at the lighthouse. In 1939, a new crib light began operating in the harbor. From 1985 to 1990, the Delta County Historical Society restored the lighthouse and tower. The boathouse was built at Squaw Point Lighthouse on the eastern shore of Little Bay de Noc in 1897. When Squaw Point received an acetylene lantern in 1914, that lighthouse was left unmanned, and the boathouse and a motorboat were moved to Sand Point. The Sand Point keeper then tended the new "Sunvalve" torch at Squaw Point, traveling across the bay each week. Sand Point Lighthouse also served as a hub for supplies, communications, and social support for outlying lights at Poverty Island, St. Martin Island, Eleven Foot Shoal, and Point Peninsula, and its keepers often ended their daily log by writing, "The Lights in this vicinity shone bright this night."