Pottawatomie Lighthouse, also known as the Rock Island Light, 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 ...

in Rock Island State Park, on Rock Island in Door County,

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 ...

. Lit in 1836, it is the oldest light station in Wisconsin and on

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...

. It was served by civilian light keepers from 1836 to the 1940s, at which point it was taken over by the

US 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 ...

History

The first lighthouse on the spot was a 1.5 story house and 30' detached tower built in 1836. Due to poor construction, it was replaced by the existing lighthouse in 1858. The original tower and dwelling were demolished in subsequent years. The current building was first lit in 1858 and continued as an active

aid to navigation In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, foreign aid, economic aid or foreign assistance) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another. Ai ...

until 1988, when it was replaced with a modern skeletal tower and automated system. It is the oldest light station in Door County, which has the most lighthouses of any Wisconsin county. The lighthouse was restored by the Friends of Rock Island Lighthouse.Wobser, David, Pottawatomie (Rock Island) Light
at

Boatnerd The boatnerd corporation, a registered not for profit corporation, circulates information about vessels that ply the North American Great Lakes. When Acheson Ventures provided space for a headquarters for the organization in their Maritime Center o ...

(Archived August 7, 2019) It is open for tours during the summer as the Pottawatomie Lighthouse Museum. The lighthouse has been restored to a state illustrating its appearance circa 1909-1913. The restoration was performed with the help from the non-profit ''Friends Of Rock Island State Park''. It now serves as a museum that is open for tours daily from Memorial Day to Columbus Day 10am to 4pm. The lighthouse was listed as Pottawatomie Lighthouse in 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 1979, as reference #79000074. The

fresnel lens A Fresnel lens ( ; ; or ) is a type of composite compact lens developed by the French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel (1788–1827) for use in lighthouses. It has been called "the invention that saved a million ships." The design allows the c ...

, lost after the lighthouse was shut down in the late 1980s, was replaced by a plexiglass copy in 1999. The original (1836)

privy Privy is an old-fashioned term for an outdoor toilet, often known as an outhouse and by many other names. Privy may also refer to: * Privy council, a body that advises the head of state * Privy mark, a small mark in the design of a coin * Privy Pur ...

still stands on the grounds and is the oldest structure in Door County.

Gallery

References

Wisconsin Public Television PBS Wisconsin (formerly Wisconsin Public Television or WPT) is a state network of non-commercial educational television stations operated primarily by the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board and the University of Wisconsin–Madison. It c ...

{{authority control Lighthouses completed in 1836 Lighthouses completed in 1858 Lighthouses in Door County, Wisconsin Lighthouse museums in Wisconsin Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin Museums in Door County, Wisconsin National Register of Historic Places in Door County, Wisconsin

History

Gallery

References

Further reading

External links