BEAVER ISLAND, MI – Historic preservation students found unique building materials in the walls of one of the oldest lighthouses on Lake Michigan: horsehair and straw. And it was all part of the history lesson.

“It’s shocking how good of condition the building is in, despite all of the wind that it takes and the weather that it endures,” said Aidan Thomas, 23, of Traverse City.

The Beaver Head Lighthouse on the south end of Beaver Island was first built in 1858, prior to the American Civil War era. Today the historic landmark is undergoing restoration to prevent deterioration from time and weather.

Thomas and fellow graduate students from Eastern Michigan University spent a week during this past summer helping with multiple historic restoration projects at the lighthouse on the south en

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