Pilot Island

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Pilot Island
Pilot Island from air 2019.jpg
Taken July 21, 2019
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Pilot Island
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Pilot Island
Geography
Location Door County, Wisconsin
Coordinates 45°17′06″N086°55′11″W / 45.28500°N 86.91972°W / 45.28500; -86.91972 Coordinates: 45°17′06″N086°55′11″W / 45.28500°N 86.91972°W / 45.28500; -86.91972
Adjacent bodies of water Lake Michigan
Highest elevation581 ft (177.1 m)
Administration

Pilot Island is an island in Lake Michigan in the Town of Washington, in Door County, Wisconsin; it is part of Green Bay National Wildlife Refuge. An abandoned lighthouse, the Pilot Island Light, rests on the island, [1] [2] and three shipwrecks rest in the Pilot Island NW Site. Pilot Island lies in the middle of the southern opening of the Porte des Morts passage off the tip of the Door Peninsula.

Contents

Pilot Island earned its name due to the use of the island as a "pilot" by sailors going through the dangerous Porte des Morts passage. [3]

The lighthouse started operations in 1858 and continues to this day to be a maritime navigational aid. The island was often foggy and the fog signal would run for long periods of time, with the noise curdling milk and destroying embryos in their eggshells. The fog signal was discontinued in 1962. [4]

From the lake

May 23, 2013 Pilot Island, Door County, Wisconsin.jpg
May 23, 2013

Nearby islands

Pilot Island is the small island at the lower right, with the larger Plum Island is at the lower left. Above Pilot Island is the long and narrow Detroit Island, with Washington Island in the distance. Plum Island Pilot Island Detroit Island and Southern Washington Island Wisconsin.jpg
Pilot Island is the small island at the lower right, with the larger Plum Island is at the lower left. Above Pilot Island is the long and narrow Detroit Island, with Washington Island in the distance.

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Door County, Wisconsin County in Wisconsin, United States

Door County is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 30,066. Its county seat is Sturgeon Bay, making it one of three Wisconsin counties on Lake Michigan not to have a county seat with the same name. Instead it is named after the strait between the Door Peninsula and Washington Island. The dangerous passage, known as Death's Door, contains shipwrecks and was known to Native Americans and early French explorers. The county was created in 1851 and organized in 1861. Door County is a popular Upper Midwest vacation destination. It is home to a small Walloon population.

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The Pilot Island NW Site is the site of three shipwrecks on the northwest side of Pilot Island in Door County, Wisconsin. The shipwrecks lie in Lake Michigan under 20 to 50 feet of water; buoys placed by the Wisconsin Historical Society mark their locations. The first ship, the Forest, sank at a reef on Pilot Island on October 28, 1891, while attempting to pass through Porte des Morts. In 1892, the J.E. Gilmore sank at the site while navigating the passage on October 17. The third ship, the A.P. Nichols, sank at the site in a storm on October 28 of the same year. The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 19, 1992.

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References

  1. Seeing The Light – Pilot Island Lighthouse, (Archived September 9, 2010)
  2. Life on Pilot Island in 1955, (Archived January 3, 2018)
  3. "Pilot Island Lighthouse - WI Shipwrecks". www.wisconsinshipwrecks.org. Retrieved 2018-06-26.
  4. Wisconsin Proposed Resource Management Plan Amendment Environmental assessment: Disposition of Public Domain Properties by Gayle F. Gordon, Parcel Descriptions and Resources by County, Door County, August 14, 2000, page 28