The North Point Lighthouse Museum 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 ...
built in 1888 in
Lake Park on the
East Side of
Milwaukee
Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...
in
Milwaukee County
Milwaukee County is located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. At the 2020 census, the population was 939,489, down from 947,735 in 2010. It is both the most populous and most densely populated county in Wisconsin, and the 45th most populous coun ...
,
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
, United States to mark the entrance to the
Milwaukee River. The lighthouse was added to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1984.
It was also added to the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
Historic American Buildings Survey
Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...
as survey HABS WI-358.
History
The first lighthouse on this bluff was built in 1855, a structure of
Cream City brick with a cast iron lantern room, sited high to make it visible out on Lake Michigan. In the late 1880s it was jeopardized by erosion of the bluff and plans were made to replace it.
In 1888 a 40-foot cast-iron lighthouse tower was built 100 feet in from the edge of the bluff, and the
Queen Anne-style light keeper's quarters was built. The original 1855 lantern room was used on the new 1888 tower. Eventually trees in the park obstructed the light from the view of ships, so in 1912 the tower was dismantled and a riveted steel addition was erected and the original 1888 section was placed on top raising its height to
[ and light focal plane to . Today it is the only lighthouse in the country built of 3 lighthouses. 1855,1888,1912.
The first 1888 lantern burned mineral oil. It was converted to coal gas in 1912 and electrified in 1929. The lens focused a 1,300,000 candlepower signal visible for . The Coast Guard decommissioned the lighthouse in 1994. In 2003 Milwaukee County leased the lighthouse and keepers quarters to the North Point Lighthouse Friends and they began restoration of the tower and keepers quarters. A $984,000 grant was used to restore the light station and it re-opened to the public as a maritime museum in 2007.]
See also
* Lighthouses in the United States
* Parks of Milwaukee
References
Further reading
* Havighurst, Walter (1943) ''The Long Ships Passing: The Story of the Great Lakes'', Macmillan Publishers
Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publi ...
.
* Oleszewski, Wes, ''Great Lakes Lighthouses, American and Canadian: A Comprehensive Directory/Guide to Great Lakes Lighthouses'', (Gwinn, Michigan: Avery Color Studios, Inc., 1998) .
*
* Sapulski, Wayne S., (2001) ''Lighthouses of Lake Michigan: Past and Present'' (Paperback) (Fowlerville: Wilderness Adventure Books) ; .
* Wright, Larry and Wright, Patricia, ''Great Lakes Lighthouses Encyclopedia'' Hardback (Erin: Boston Mills Press, 2006) .
External links
North Point Lighthouse Friends, Inc.Lighthouse friends articleLibrary of Congress Historic American Buildings Survey
Survey number HABS WI-358
* North Point Light.
{{Authority control
Lighthouses completed in 1888
Houses completed in 1888
Buildings and structures in Milwaukee
Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin
Tourist attractions in Milwaukee
National Register of Historic Places in Milwaukee