Located on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Grand River, for which it is named, Grand Haven is a little town with only about 10,000 inhabitants, founded by French in the 18th century as a fur trading outpost. Given the importance of shipping and water trade to the city, a lighthouse was built in 1839 on the south pier, to mark the most navigable channel into the river, but it was severely damaged by a storm in 1852. In 1855 a stone lighthouse and keeper's dwelling were built on a high bluff on the south side of the river mouth. A breakwall was built in 1857 to protect the river mouth from silting. A fog signal building was built on the end of the pier in 1875 and as the pier was extended through the years the building was continually moved to each new end, finally reaching its present location in 1893, 330m from shore (outer light). A 18m conical light tower was built on the pier in 1881 and replaced by a 15m steel tower in 1905 (inner - in the postcard) that used the light from the old lighthouse on the bluff. They are connected by a lighted catwalk, which runs along the pier to the shore.
About the stamps
Two of the stamps are part of a series issued to mark the Batman’s 75th anniversary as the protector of Gotham City, about which I wrote here. About the third stamp, depicting the president Abraham Lincoln, I wrote here.
References
Grand Haven, Michigan - Wikipedia
Grand Haven South Pier and Pierhead Inner Light - Lighthouses of the Great Lakes
Interactive: Explore the lighthouses of Michigan - The Detroit News
Sender: Denise
Sent from Greenvale (New York / United States), on 10.10.2014
Photo: Edward R. Post
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