Wisconsin Point Light

The Wisconsin Point Light is a lighthouse located near Superior, on Wisconsin Point, in Douglas County, Wisconsin, United States.

Wisconsin Point Light
Wisconsin Point Lighthouse
LocationSuperior Wisconsin
Coordinates46°42′36.5″N 92°00′23″W[1]
Year first constructed1913
Year first lit1913
Automated1970
FoundationConcrete pier
ConstructionConcrete
Tower shapeCylindrical, atop square (rounded corners) keeper's house
Markings / patternWhite with red lantern, red roof on house
Tower height56 feet (17 m)
Focal height70 feet (21 m)[2]
Original lensFourth order Fresnel lens
Current lensDCB 24 Carlisle & Finch Aerobeacon[3]
Range21 nautical miles (39 km; 24 mi)[1]
CharacteristicGreen flashing, 5 s[1]
Fog signalHORN: 1 blast ev 30s (3s bl); operates from May 1 to October 20
ARLHS numberUSA-829
USCG number7-15595
Heritageplace listed on the National Register of Historic Places 
Superior Entry South Breakwater Light
Arealess than one acre
Built byU.S. Bureau of Lighthouses
MPSLight Stations of the United States MPS
NRHP reference No.07000102[4]
Added to NRHPMarch 1, 2007

The light and attached fog horn building sits within a 10-mile (16 km) long sand bar – stretching between the ports of Duluth and Superior. This sand bar makes the Duluth–Superior Harbor one of the safest harbors in the world. It is "reputedly the longest freshwater sand bar in the world" and is split by this opening near its center, where the lighthouse is located. The Minnesota side of the opening is known as "Minnesota Point" (Park Point) and the Wisconsin side is known as "Wisconsin Point."[5] It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.[4] It stands erect at 70 ft. tall.

History
Rear view of Wisconsin Point Light house

The original Fresnel lens was manufactured by Sautter, Lemonnier, and Company of Paris in 1890.[6] It was replaced with a DCB-224 aero beacon[7] manufactured by the Carlisle & Finch Company.[8]

It is an active navigational aid and is known as the South Breakwater Light by the United States Coast Guard in the Volume VII light list and the United States Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System.

It is located on the southern Superior Harbor entry breakwall. The Saint Louis River, which rises in Minnesota, becomes the Saint Louis Bay, then flows into Superior Bay and exits into Lake Superior via the ship canals, at each end of (Park Point) Minnesota Point.

In July 2019, the lighthouse superstructure was put up for sale in an online auction by the U.S. GSA. The breakwater upon which it sits and the navigational aid housed within would remain U.S. Government property after the sale.[9]

References
  1. Light List, Volume VII, Great Lakes (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard. 2014.
  2. Pepper, Terry. "Seeing the Light: Lighthouses on the western Great Lakes".
  3. National Park Service, Maritime History Project, Inventory of Historic Light Stations - Wisconsin - Wisconsin Point Light.
  4. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  5. Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light, Superior Entry Lighthouse.
  6. Wobser, David, Wisconsin Point (Superior South Breakwater) Light, boatnerd.com Archived 2008-07-25 at the Wayback Machine
  7. Aero beacon, Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light.
  8. Carlisle & Finch Company.
  9. "Superior Entry Light". GSA Auctions. U.S. General Services Administration. Archived from the original on 14 August 2019. Retrieved 14 August 2019.

Further reading
  • 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".
  • Wright, Larry and Wright, Patricia, Great Lakes Lighthouses Encyclopedia Hardback (Erin: Boston Mills Press, 2006) ISBN 1-55046-399-3.

Media related to Wisconsin Point Light at Wikimedia Commons

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