In 2005, the McGulpin's Point Lighthouse and the adjoining 11.5 acres were placed on the market for $1.75 million by the Peppler family. By early 2008, the price had been reduced to $974,900, and later that year, the Emmet County Commissioners voted to purchase the property for $710,000. In April of 2009, the commissioners approved $103,000 for the purchase of a pair of lots adjacent to the lighthouse that they hope can be used for parking or a museum to complement the lighthouse. The expenditure of $25,000 for plaques, signs, installation of a flagpole and promotional materials in preparation for the May 30th rededication of the lighthouse was also approved at the same meeting. A replica lantern room, fabricated by Moran Iron Works in Onaway, was placed atop the lighthouse on April 23, 2009.

Roughly 1,200 attended the festivities commemorating the relighting of the lighthouse held on May 30, 2009. After an invocation by Frank Ettawageshik, tribal chairman of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, and a stirring performance by four Native American drummers, the light at the top of the tower was turned on by U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow and James Tamlyn, chair of the Emmet County Board of Commissioners.