As shipping traffic increased dramatically, so did the need for some sort of light structure to guide the ships in and out of the harbor and to warn them of the treacherous sand shoals that reached out into Little Bay de Noc from Sand Point,[12] a sandspit located just south of and adjacent to the harbor area.

The tower is topped with a cast iron lantern room which houses a fourth order Fresnel lens, emitting a fixed red light with a radiating power of 11.5 miles (18.5 km).

It was in this year that the United States Coast Guard took over all navigational lights in the country from the National Lighthouse Service.

The Coast Guard constructed an automated crib light several hundred feet offshore, which replaced the function and duties of the Sand Point Lighthouse and its lightkeeper.

The Sand Point Lighthouse was no longer operational, but it continued to serve as housing for Coast Guard seaman who were assigned to duty in Escanaba.

In addition, the roof was raised to create a full second floor, several windows were added and the entire building was covered in aluminum siding.

The abandoned lighthouse was then obtained by the Delta County Historical Society in 1986 with plans to restore it back to its original appearance.

With the help of the original 1867 plan of the building, the Delta County Historical Society began extensive research and fundraising for this immense restoration project.

The roof was lowered to its original level, the new windows were bricked-in and the ten foot lopped-off tower was rebuilt.

[17] After a dedication ceremony in July 1990, the newly restored Sand Point lighthouse was opened to the public.

Each year the lighthouse is open from Memorial Day to October 1, giving visitors a chance to climb the tower and witness what it would have been like to be a lightkeeper around the turn of the 20th century.