McGulpin Point Lighthouse Spiral Staircase OPENING

McGulpin Point Lighthouse spiral staircase is
44 steps and is wound clockwise. The top stairway opening (the subject of this photo) was crafted to match the original by Victor Ruppert and installed by Guy Post - both are associates of Moran Iron Works, Onaway Michigan. The opening design is very morphic and one needs to see a person coming through it to appreciate how it accomadates the human body.

McGulpin Point Light was constructed as a navigational aid through the Straits of Mackinac. The light began operation in 1869, making it one of the oldest surviving lighthouses in the Straits. The light is located on McGulpin Point, approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Fort Michilimackinac.
The McGulpin Point Light, a true lighthouse with a light tower and attached lighthouse keeper's living quarters, was completed by the United States Lighthouse Board in 1869 at a cost of $20,000. The living quarters were built as a vernacular 11⁄2-story brick structure. The lighthouse operated during the Great Lakes navigation seasons from 1869 until 1906.

Little known fact: Spiral stairs in medieval times were generally made of stone and typically wound in a clockwise direction (from the ascender's point of view), to place attacking swordsmen (who were most often right-handed) at a disadvantage. This asymmetry forces the right-handed swordsman to engage the central pike and degrade his mobility compared with the defender who is facing down the stairs.


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