Devils Island Light

The Devils Island Lighthouse is a lighthouse located on Devils Island, one of the Apostle Islands, in Lake Superior in Ashland County, Wisconsin, near the city of Bayfield.

Not to be confused with Devils Island Light (Nova Scotia).
Devils Island Light
LocationDevils Island, Wisconsin
Coordinates47°04′46.288″N 90°43′41.13″W[1]
Year first lit1901
Automated1978
FoundationConcrete
ConstructionCast iron
Tower shapeCylindrical Free Standing[1][2]
Tower height71 feet (22 m)[3]
Focal height100 feet (30 m)[4]
Original lens3rd order Fresnel lens[5][6]
Range9 nautical miles (17 km; 10 mi)[1]
CharacteristicRed, Flashing, 10 sec[1]
ARLHS numberUSA-228
USCG number7-15565
HeritageNRHP contributing property 
Devils Island Light
Area33.8 acres (13.7 ha)
Built1857 (1857)
Built byUnited States Lighthouse Service
Part ofApostle Islands Lighthouses (ID77000145[7])
Added to NRHPMarch 8, 1977

Currently owned by the National Park Service and part of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, it is a contributing property to the Apostle Islands Lighthouses and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.[7]. 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 original third order Fresnel lens manufactured by Henry-Lepaute was removed by the U.S. Coast Guard in 1989, but a new third order Fresnel lens was replaced by the N.P.S. in 1992.[8]

The site originally had a 10-inch (250 mm) steam whistle in a fog signal 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.[9]

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 tramway engine building, a dock, wooden boathouse (1 mile distant) and a radio beacon.[8]

Getting there

Most of the Apostle Islands Lighthouses may be reached on the Apostle Islands Cruise Service[10] water taxi or by private boat during the summer. During the Annual Apostle Island Lighthouse Celebration[11] 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.[12]

  • USCG archive photo
  • USCG archive photo

See also

References
  1. Light List, Volume VII, Great Lakes (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard.
  2. Pepper, Terry. "Database of Tower Design". Seeing the Light. terrypepper.com. Archived from the original on 2009-11-15.
  3. Pepper, Terry. "Database of Tower Heights". Seeing the Light. terrypepper.com. Archived from the original on 2000-09-18.
  4. Pepper, Terry. "Database of Focal Heights". Seeing the Light. terrypepper.com. Archived from the original on 2008-08-30.
  5. "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Wisconsin". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.
  6. Pepper, Terry. "Database of Original Lenses". Seeing the Light. terrypepper.com. Archived from the original on 2000-09-18.
  7. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  8. National Park Service, Maritime Heritage Project, Inventory of Historic Light Stations - Wisconsin
  9. Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light, Devil's Island Light. Archived September 12, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  10. Apostle Islands Cruise Service.
  11. Apostle Island Lighthouse Celebration.
  12. [http://lighthouse.boatnerd.com/gallery/Superior/LaPointe.htm Wobser, David, La Pointe Light, Boatnerd Originally in Great Laker Magazine.

Further reading
  • Devils Island Light Station. Lighthouse Digest (Jan 1999), pp. 14–15.
  • Havighurst, Walter (1943) The Long Ships Passing: The Story of the Great Lakes, Macmillan Publishers.
  • Oleszewski, Wes, Great Lakes Lighthouses, American and Canadian: A Comprehensive Directory/Guide to Great Lakes Lighthouses, (Gwinn, Michigan: Avery Color Studios, Inc., 1998) ISBN 0-932212-98-0.
  • Pepper, Terry. "Seeing the Light: Lighthouses on the western Great Lakes". Archived from the original on 2008-01-30.
  • Wright, Larry and Wright, Patricia, Great Lakes Lighthouses Encyclopedia Hardback (Erin: Boston Mills Press, 2006) ISBN 1-55046-399-3.
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