Attractions - Lighthouse (37)
Attraction Name Description
Algoma North Pierhead Light The first Algoma lighthouse was built at the harbor entrance in 1893. The red-painted steel tower that now marks the harbor entrance was built in 1932 during a federal harbor improvement project that included the 1,100 concrete North Pier. The light is located at the end of the North Pier at the ...
Ashland Breakwater Light Early in the twentieth century, a lighthouse was needed to guide vessels in and out of the booming Ashland harbor. Shallow areas near the light also are a potential hazard to navigation and needed to be marked. Located on the west end of the approximately one and a half mile long breakwater out i...
Baileys Harbor Lighthouse (Old) This forty-foot-high lighthouse was built in 1851-52 on a tiny peninsula on North Point Island, sometimes called Lighthouse Island, at the eastern entrance to Baileys Harbor from Lake Michigan. The rocks used in the circular tower are large, flat, and light-colored, harvested from the immediate a...
Baileys Harbor Range Lights Both built in 1869-1870, 'this rather odd-looking set of buildings is a unique duo of Wisconsin lights. The Baileys Harbor Range Lights were built to allow mariners a safer harbor passage than the Old Baileys Harbor Lighthouse afforded. The lights guided vessels in a northwesterly direction throu...
Cana Island Lighthouse Yes, it is possible to stroll to an island. Cana Island, with its historic lighthouse facilities, is open to the public seasonally. Please call or visit the Web site below for details. Walk across the rock causeway from the Door County mainland to the island. Step inside the keeper's house where,...
Chambers Island Lighthouse Built in 1868, this lighthouse is located on Chambers Island off the west shore of the Door County peninsula in Green Bay. The lighthouse stands in a 40-acre park and is open seasonally when the caretaker is present. Access to the island is limited to excursion boats. Please call the island caret...
Devils Island Lighthouse Devils Island is the northernmost point in Wisconsin. First lit in 1901, the white iron tower at the northern end of the island is topped with a third-order Fresnel lens and continues to this day to be an active aid to navigation. Within the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Devils Island is ac...
Eagle Bluff Lighthouse The Eagle Bluff lighthouse is open seasonally and located in Peninsula State Park, between Fish Creek and Ephraim on Hwy 42. All visitors must pay the daily park admission fee or have a current annual park sticker. A map of the park may be obtained at the park entrance. An active aid to navigatio...
Grassy Island Range Lights Grassy Island lies at the very southern end of Green Bay near the mouth of the Fox River. The Grassy Island Range Lights, built in 1872, were located on an eastern embankment that was cut through the island, enabling seamen to recognize the deepened artificial navigation channel in lower Green Ba...
Kenosha (Southport) Lighthouse Built in 1866, this light is located on Simmons Island adjacent to Simmons Island Park. No longer an active aid to navigation, the 55 foot conical tower is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is undergoing restoration. The Kenosha Historical Society received a grant in 2003 to ...
Kenosha North Pierhead Light This pierhead light is typical of many red pierhead lights marking the entrance to Lake Michigan harbors. It was built in 1906 and is at the end of the 750-foot concrete north pier in Kenosha. The tower is fifty feet tall and made of riveted steel plates. It operates seasonally, and is not open t...
Kewaunee Pierhead Light The present pierhead light marking the south pier in Kewaunee was built in 1931. The small four-sided tower is topped with a octagonal lantern room, which houses the fifth-order Fresnel lens that still operates year round as an active aid to navigation. Although you cannot enter the lighthouse, y...
La Pointe Lighthouse Lighthouse located on Long Island in Lake Superior and is one of the oldest skeletal lighthouses on the Great Lakes.
Manitowoc Breakwater Lighthouse Built in 1918 and standing fifty feet tall, the lighthouse that marks the end of the north breakwater in the port of Manitowoc has retained its fifth-order Fresnel lens, which continues to guide mariners into this historically important port. An active aid to navigation, the interior of the light...
Michigan Island Lighthouses Lying within the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Michigan Island has two lighthouses; the old lighthouse, built in 1857, as well as the new lighthouse built in 1929. Although no regular ferries service the island, Michigan Island is accessible by private boat in the summer. A dock on the sout...
Milwaukee Breakwater Lighthouse Built in 1926, the Milwaukee Breakwater Lighthouse remains one of the last examples of a fully enclosed breakwater lighthouse on the Great Lakes. The lighthouse sits about in the middle of the four-mile stretch of breakwater barriers that protect the Milwaukee waterfront. The lighthouse is a whit...
Milwaukee Pierhead Light The Milwaukee Pierhead light sits just east of the confluence of Milwaukee's three rivers, the Milwaukee, the Menomonee, and the Kinnickinnic. This area is actually an artificial channel dredged in 1857 replacing the natural flow of the rivers to Lake Michigan a half mile south of the present loc...
North Point (Milwaukee) Lighthouse This light is located at North Point, which is north of the entrance into the Milwaukee River from Lake Michigan. It sits on a high bluff, in beautiful Lake Park. This one site has seen many lighthouse structures through the years. The original lighthouse was built in 1855. The structure standing...
Outer Island Lighthouse The northeastern limit of the Apostle Islands, the remote Outer Island lighthouse was built in 1874 and remains an active aid to navigation. Sitting atop a 40-foot bluff, the white brick tower offers an incredible view over Lake Superior. Situated just within the Apostle Islands National Lakeshor...
Peshtigo Reef Lighthouse This seventy-two foot light marks the shallow Peshtigo Reef that sticks out into Green Bay three miles beyond Peshtigo Point. Prior to the building of this lighthouse in 1934, the reef was marked by Lightship No.77, the Peshtigo Reef Lightship. The current light is a metal tower on a cement crib ...
Pilot Island Lighthouse Pilot Island is located east of Northport at the tip of the Door Peninsula, approximately two miles from an area known as the Porte des Morts or Death's Door. This area is particularly dangerous with numerous shoals to the south. Strategically located on the eastern edge of the Door passage, the ...
Plum Island Range Lights The original Plum Island Lighthouse was built in 1849 and was decommissioned ten years later. The equipment was moved to the newly built, Pilot Island lighthouse. The Plum Island range lights were constructed in 1896 and first lit the following year. The lights are located on the southern end of...
Port Washington Light Station This beautiful old light station has been restored by the Port Washington Historical Society. Although not an active aid to navigation, a wonderfully reconstructed lantern room was placed on the structure in 2002. The light station is also a museum and houses many marine artifacts as well as peri...
Port Washington Pierhead Light This unique pierhead light was built in 1935 to light one of the most notoriously dangerous harbors on the Great Lakes. The concrete arches that make up the base of the lighthouse allow high seas to pass through the bottom without damaging the art deco steel plated lighthouse above. The light is ...
Potawatomi Lighthouse The original Potawatomi Light, built in 1836, was the first lighthouse in Wisconsin and the first on Lake Michigan. The lighthouse seen today was built in 1858 and has been beautifully restored. The lighthouse is in Rock Island State Park at the very tip of the Door County Peninsula. Rock Island ...
Racine North Breakwater Light One of the few remaining lights of its kind on the Great Lakes, the Racine North Breakwater Light is perched atop the Racine concrete and boulder breakwater. Built in 1910, the old red lighthouse is no longer an active aid to navigation but is illuminated at night. Although this light is not open...
Racine Reef Light The current modern light stands atop the concrete base that supported the Victorian-style lighthouse that stood here from 1905 until 1961 when it was dismantled. The current light is an active aid to navigation and is not open to the public. It can, however, be viewed from the north parking lot a...
Raspberry Island Lighthouse The Raspberry Island lighthouse was built in 1863 on the southwest side of Raspberry Island in Lake Superior's Apostle Islands. The lighthouse is open seasonally, with guided tours available. The lighthouse keeper's residence has period furnishings and historic artifacts. The island is accessible...
Rawley Point Lighthouse About five miles north of the city of Two Rivers, Rawley Point has seen its share of shipwrecks, even though it boasts the second tallest lighthouse in Wisconsin. The treacherous shoals around the point have long been a danger to Great Lakes vessels. Although a lighthouse has stood at this locati...
Sand Island Lighthouse The Sand Island lighthouse, located in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, sits on the western most major island. The light was first lit in 1881 and continues to be an active aid to navigation. This lighthouse is unique in that it is the only one in the Apostle Island built of brownstone. Th...
Sheboygan Breakwater Lighthouse This present pierhead light was built in 1915, although Sheboygan has been served by a lighthouse since 1839. The skeletal steel pierhead tower was topped with a circular parapet and lantern room; however, the lantern room has been removed and only the tower remains. The tower still is an active ...
Sherwood Point Lighthouse The Sherwood Point Lighthouse sits on the south shore of the western end of Sturgeon Bay overlooking the entrance to Green Bay. Sherwood Point is a unique Door County light. It is the lone lighthouse in the county constructed of red brick and resembles an old red schoolhouse. The original light w...
Sturgeon Bay Canal Constructed between 1872 and 1879, the Sturgeon Bay ship canal allowed vessels to cut through the Door peninsula instead of using the dangerous Deaths Door passage at the tip of the county. The lighthouse at the eastern end of the canal is an active aid to navigation and part of a busy U.S. Coast...
Sturgeon Bay North Pier Lighthouse Constructed between 1872 and 1879, the Sturgeon Bay ship canal allowed vessels to cut through the Door peninsula instead of using the dangerous Deaths Door passage at the tip of the county. The lighthouse at the eastern end of the canal is an active aid ...
Two Rivers North Pierhead Light The Two Rivers North Pierhead Light has been moved from its original location to the Rogers Street Fishing Village Museum where it can be toured as part of regular museum admission. First used in 1886, the red wooden structure was retired in 1969 and donated to the city's historical society. Roge...
Wind Point Lighthouse The 112 foot tower of the Wind Point Lighthouse was erected in 1880 five miles north of Racine. The light remains an active aid to navigation and is reputed to be the tallest operating light on the Great Lakes. Today, the lighthouse buildings serve as municipal offices for the village of Wind Poi...
Wisconsin Point Light (Superior Entry) Built in 1913, this Douglas County lighthouse is unique in that its base is oval in shape, while the concrete light tower is round. The structure is supported by a foundation secured in the lake bottom. Positioned at the west pierhead entrance to Superior Harbor at the western end of Wisconsin Po...
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