The Devils Island Lighthouse is a

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

located on Devils Island, one of the

Apostle Islands The Apostle Islands are a group of 22 islands in Lake Superior, off the Bayfield Peninsula in northern Wisconsin. The majority of the islands are located in Ashland County—only Sand, York, Eagle, and Raspberry Islands are located in Ba ...

, in Lake Superior in Ashland County, Wisconsin, near the city of Bayfield. Among the Apostle Islands lighthousesa testament to its remotenessit was the last built, and the last automated and unmanned.

History

Currently owned by the National Park Service and part of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, it is a

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distri ...

to the

Apostle Islands Lighthouses There are several historic lighthouses on Lake Superior on or near the Apostle Islands in Wisconsin. Six of these lighthouses, all in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, were listed as a group on the National Register of Historic Places in 197 ...

and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.. It is also listed in the Library of Congress Historic American Buildings Survey, WI-324. Several other structures in the vicinity are also listed in HABS. The "Devils Island Light Station Cultural Landscape" was included as one of five lighthouses (with state-level significance) in the National Register of Historic Places nomination on March 8, 1977. It occupies approximately on the north lakeshore of the Devils Island. Within are several structures. A previous skeletal, wooden structure was constructed in 1891 has since been demolished. Historical brick Queen Anne style keepers quarters (1896) are collocated with the current lighthouse. Also on the premises were two oil houses, a tramway, a

brownstone Brownstone is a brown Triassic–Jurassic sandstone that was historically a popular building material. The term is also used in the United States and Canada to refer to a townhouse clad in this or any other aesthetically similar material. Type ...

tramway engine building, a

dock A dock (from Dutch language, Dutch ''dok'') is the area of water between or next to one or a group of human-made structures that are involved in the handling of boats or ships (usually on or near a shore) or such structures themselves. The ex ...

, wooden

boathouse A boathouse (or a boat house) is a building especially designed for the storage of boats, normally smaller craft for sports or leisure use. describing the facilities These are typically located on open water, such as on a river. Often the boats ...

(1 mile distant) and a

radio beacon In navigation, a radio beacon or radiobeacon is a kind of beacon, a device that marks a fixed location and allows direction-finding equipment to find relative bearing. But instead of employing visible light, radio beacons transmit electromagnet ...

/ tower. An inclined Tramway (1893) and Engine Building (1901) provided transport of equipment, gear and supplies. The original third order Fresnel lens manufactured by Henry-Lepaute was removed by the

U.S. Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, multi ...

in 1989, but a new third order Fresnel lens was replaced by the N.P.S. in 1992. The site originally had a steam whistle in a

fog signal A foghorn or fog signal is a device that uses sound to warn vehicles of navigational hazards such as rocky coastlines, or boats of the presence of other vessels, in foggy conditions. The term is most often used in relation to marine transport. W ...

building. That was removed in 1925, and "a much improved air-operated diaphone fog signal" was accomplished. In 1928, a diesel-powered electrical generator was installed, and the light intensity increased to 300,000 candela for the white flash and 180,000 candela for the red. In 1928,

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. Born in Vermont, Coolidge was a History of the Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer ...

and the

first lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

visited the island and lighthouse during an 88-day vacation to Wisconsin.

Getting there

Most of the

may be reached on the Apostle Islands Cruise Service water taxi or by private boat during the summer. During the Annual Apostle Island Lighthouse CelebrationApostle Island Lighthouse Celebration.
/ref> ferry tour service is available for all the lighthouses. In the tourist season, volunteer park rangers are on many of the islands to greet visitors.
Boatnerd an excerpt from an article originally in ''Great Laker Magazine'' October–December 2008 Volume 37, Number 2.

References

Notes

Citations

External links

Aerial photos of Devils Island Light, Marina.com.Anderson, Kraig. Lighthouse friends Devil's Island Light article.Library of Congress Historic American Buildings Survey
Survey number HABS WI-324
Library of Congress Historic American Buildings Survey
Survey number HABS WI-324-A * National Park Service
Maritime History Project, Inventory of Historic Light Stations - Wisconsin, Devils Island Light.

* {{authority control Lighthouses completed in 1891 Houses completed in 1896 Lighthouses completed in 1901 Lighthouses in Ashland County, Wisconsin Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin National Register of Historic Places in Ashland County, Wisconsin