A plastic skeleton beckons from the tower of Seul Choix Pointe Lighthouse, purportedly one of the most haunted places in Michigan. The active light station is giving tours from 6 to 10 p.m Saturday. (Escanaba Daily Press photo)

GULLIVER — Seul Choix Pointe was the “only choice” for refuge for French sailors who gave the place its name about two centuries ago. Located between Manistique and Naubinway, the bay it protects is dangerous in itself, with churning waters over only partially-hidden rocks. The lighthouse at the point is now automated — unless spirits are considered to be tending the beacon. Ghosthunters consider Seul Choix Pointe Lighthouse to be one of the most haunted places in Michigan, if not the world. The Gulliver Historical Society embraces this status and offers tours at Halloweentime. The last one of the year will the Saturday.

The lighthouse and station were built in the years surrounding 1895. The grounds featured a 79-foot tower with a two-story brick house, a boat house, steam fog horn building, docks, oil houses, stable, paint shed and tramway. In 1961, a ranch house was built by the Coast Guard as additional living quarters.

The complex has remained largely intact and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. In 1989, following the light station’s recognition as a Michigan Historical Landmark, Mueller Township was awarded a State Equity Grant to help develop the site. Repurposings have included one structure into a maritime museum, the ranch house to a gift shop, and one of the keeper’s buildings to a genealogy library.

The lighthouse is operated by the Gulliver Historical Society in cooperation with the Department of Natural Resources Parks and Recreation Division, while the land is owned by the State of Michigan. The historical society, with a 35-year lease, maintains the grounds and pays the bills. Money raised by tours and donations all goes directly into maintaining the lighthouse.

The annual haunted lighthouse tours are the society’s largest fundraisers. Last Saturday was this year’s first session; this Saturday will be only other date for the event this year.

Halloween is a big to-do at Seul Choix. Volunteers up from Traverse City spent five days working on setting up the decorations, including animatronics that are new this year, said Gulliver Historical Society President Marilyn Fischer.

From 6 to 7 p.m. Saturday will be a child-friendly tour and from 7 to 10 p.m. is the “scary” tour. Entry is $10 per adult and $5 for children under 12.

While the event is mostly an entertaining fundraiser, the fact remains that many ghosthunters have considered Seul Choix a paranormal hotspot.

One, Kathleen Tedsen, co-authored the book series “Haunted Travels of Michigan” along with her sister. The second book included a section on Gulliver.

Biographies have described Tedsen as a skeptic who spends a lot of her time debunking ghost stories. She measures paranormal activity and records electronic voice phenomena on audio, then compares her findings with historical records.

According to a Detroit Free Press article published last year, Tedsen, after conducting over 350 paranormal investigations, named Seul Choix Pointe Lighthouse as one of the top five places in Michigan with the most compelling paranormal evidence.

The primary ghost people claim to see or experience at Seul Choix Pointe is that of the station’s second keeper, Captain Joseph Willie Townshend, who served from 1901 to 1910. People have said that the benevolent spirit of the Englishman rearranges silverware if it’s set in the American fashion and smokes a cigar in the living quarters — his wife reportedly used to make him smoke outside.

The spirit Tedsen believes to have found, though, was of another keeper’s mother-in-law, Mary Pemble. Both Townshend and Pemble died in the house during winters, and as the ground was frozen, the bodies couldn’t be buried right away. Instead, they were stored in cold, insulated parts of the lighthouse.

Upon an ashlar foundation, the lighthouse tower walls are 20 inches thick at the base, pocketed with a 29-inch air space before a second nine-inch-thick inner wall, according to state records.

Some people say that the souls of those who died within never escaped.

“We do have five spirits at the lighthouse,” Fischer said.

Fischer has served as president of the Gulliver Historical Society for 36 years. She’s also the historian who maintains the genealogical archives on site. Fischer herself has authored 14 books, four of which are about the ghosts of Seul Choix Pointe.

Fischer’s books are sold in the gift shop, which will be open on Saturday, as will a 30-seat theater on the premises, which will be playing a film produced by the historical society.

This year, funds are going towards a roof replacement for the lighthouse tower. The estimated cost was $100,000 — a hefty price tag largely because of the copper shingles on the back side, said Fischer. As a registered historic site, work has to be done properly.

“Every year, we’re doing something new,” Fischer said, and explained that this summer’s project was to repair the well pit that had been damaged by a snow plow. She said that it took two years to raise those funds. The lighthouse tower roof, however, doesn’t have that kind of time.

“The roof is leaking, so we’ve got to do it next year,” Fischer stated.

Seul Choix Pointe’s grounds and buildings are open seasonally for visitors from the Friday of Memorial Day weekend through the end of September. Guests are allowed to climb the tower, which is unusual for an active light station.

Apart from the Halloween tours, the lighthouse opens to visitors for one other event in the off-season — “Christmas from the Past,” which is always the weekend after Thanksgiving. This year it will be on Nov. 30.