Racine Harbor Lighthouse and Life Saving Station

Last updated
Racine Harbor Lighthouse and Life Saving Station
RACINE HARBOR LIGHTHOUSE AND LIGHT SAVING STATION.jpg
Racine Harbor Lighthouse and Life Saving Station
Location Racine, Wisconsin
Coordinates 42°44′03″N87°46′43″W / 42.73405°N 87.7787°W / 42.73405; -87.7787 Coordinates: 42°44′03″N87°46′43″W / 42.73405°N 87.7787°W / 42.73405; -87.7787
NRHP reference No. 75000077
Added to NRHPSeptember 9, 1975

The Racine Harbor Lighthouse and Life Saving Station is a complex of navigation aids begun by the U.S. government in the 1860s near the harbor of Racine, Wisconsin. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. [1] [2]

To guide ships into Racine's harbor, the federal government in 1837 built the first lighthouse at the mouth of the Root River, with a light on a 34 feet (10 m) tower and a lightkeeper's house. Those structures no longer exist. [3]

In the early 1860s the pier was extended, and a new lighthouse and keeper's quarters were begun on a rock-filled crib 200 feet (61 m) offshore. They were completed in 1866 and served for 40 years. In 1903 the light was moved from the old lighthouse to a free-standing 120-foot steel tower, and the tower of the old lighthouse was capped with a hip roof. [4] [2]

The life-saving station was added in 1903, a 2-story building with a 3-story square, pyramidal-roofed lookout tower. Part of the station was a frame boathouse. A team from the Life-Saving Service lived in this station, and conducted search and rescue operations along the Milwaukee-Kenosha coast and 40 miles (64 km) out into Lake Michigan. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlevoix South Pier Light Station</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

The Charlevoix South Pier Light Station is located on Lake Michigan at the entrance to Lake Charlevoix in Charlevoix County in the U.S. state of Michigan at the end of the south pier/breakwater of the channel leading to Round Lake in the city of Charlevoix.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crisp Point Light</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

Crisp Point was one of five U.S. Life-Saving Service Stations along the coast of Lake Superior between Munising and Whitefish Point in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The lighthouse is within McMillan Township in Luce County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sand Island Light (Wisconsin)</span> Lighthouse in Wisconsin, United States

The Sand Island Light is a lighthouse located on the northern tip of Sand Island, one of the Apostle Islands, in Lake Superior in Bayfield County, Wisconsin, near the city of Bayfield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenosha Light</span> Lighthouse

Kenosha Light is a lighthouse and keeper's house on Simmons Island north of the channel into Kenosha's harbor in Kenosha County, Wisconsin, USA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baileys Harbor Range Lights</span>

The Baileys Harbor Range Lights are a pair of lighthouses arranged in a range light configuration, located near Baileys Harbor in Door County, Wisconsin, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plum Island Range Lights</span> Lighthouse

The Plum Island Range Lights are a pair of range lights located on Plum Island in Door County, Wisconsin. They were part of the Plum Island United States Life-Saving Station. Plum Island was transferred to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in 2007 and became part of the Green Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The life-saving station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010. Plum Island is seasonally open to the public for day-time use.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eagle Harbor Light</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

Eagle Harbor Light is an operational lighthouse at Eagle Harbor, in Keweenaw County in the state of Michigan. It sits on the rocky entrance to Eagle Harbor and is one of several light stations that guide mariners on Lake Superior across the northern edge of the Keweenaw Peninsula. The original lighthouse, built in 1851, was replaced in 1871 by the present red brick structure, which is a Michigan State Historic Site and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grosse Point Light</span> Lighthouse

The historic Grosse Point Light is located in Evanston, Illinois. Following several shipping disasters near Evanston, residents successfully lobbied the federal government for a lighthouse. Construction was completed in 1873. The lighthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 8, 1976. On 20 January 1999, the lighthouse was designated a National Historic Landmark. It is maintained under the jurisdiction of the Evanston Lighthouse Park District, an independent taxing authority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wind Point Light</span> Lighthouse

Wind Point Lighthouse is a lighthouse located at the north end of Racine Harbor in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is in the village of Wind Point, Wisconsin, on Lighthouse Road, next to the Shoop Park golf course. The lighthouse stands 108 feet (33 m) tall. One of the oldest and tallest active lighthouses on the Great Lakes, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milwaukee Pierhead Light</span> Lighthouse

The Milwaukee Pierhead Light is an active lighthouse located in the Milwaukee harbor, just south of downtown. This aid to navigation is a 'sister' of the Kenosha North Pier Light.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milwaukee Breakwater Light</span> Lighthouse

The Milwaukee Breakwater lighthouse was built in 1926 in the harbor of Milwaukee in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin to mark the entrance to the harbor. One of the last fully enclosed breakwater lighthouses in the Great Lakes, the structure was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marquette Harbor Light</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

The Marquette Harbor Light is located on Lake Superior in Marquette, Michigan, a part of the Upper Peninsula. It is an active aid to navigation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rock of Ages Light</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

The Rock of Ages Light is a U.S. Coast Guard lighthouse on a small rock outcropping approximately 2.25 miles (3.62 km) west of Washington Island and 3.5 miles (5.6 km) west of Isle Royale, in Eagle Harbor Township, Keweenaw County, Michigan. It is an active aid to navigation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port Washington Light</span> Lighthouse

The Port Washington Light is a historical lighthouse in Port Washington, Wisconsin. Replaced by the Port Washington Breakwater Light and converted to a normal dwelling, it was restored with the assistance of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and currently serves as a museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minnesota Point Light</span> Historic lighthouse ruin in Minnesota, United States

The Minnesota Point Light was a historic lighthouse on Minnesota Point in Duluth, Minnesota, United States, on the shores of Lake Superior. Built in 1858, it was the first lighthouse in the state, but is now a truncated ruined tower. The ruin was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 for its state-level significance in the theme of transportation. It was nominated for being the first high-powered lighthouse on Lake Superior, and the zero-point for all original surveys of the lake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Middle Island Light</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

The Middle Island Light is a lighthouse located on Middle Island in Lake Huron, about 10 miles (16 km) north of Alpena, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Racine Reef Light</span> Lighthouse

The Racine Reef Light was a lighthouse located in Lake Michigan some two miles east of Racine, Wisconsin, marking the edge of its eponymous shallows. It was torn down in 1961 and replaced with a skeleton tower on the same foundation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Joseph North Pier Inner and Outer Lights</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

The St. Joseph North Pier Inner and Outer Lights are lighthouses in Michigan at the entrance to the St. Joseph River on Lake Michigan. The station was built in 1832 with the current lights built in 1906 and 1907; they were decommissioned in 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Racine North Breakwater Light</span> Lighthouse in Racine, Wisconsin

The Racine North Breakwater Light is a lighthouse located on Lake Michigan, connected via breakwater to Racine, Wisconsin. The light was deactivated in 1987 yet still stands in its original location, now a tourist destination.

References

  1. "Racine Harbor Light". National Park Service. Retrieved 2013-05-30.
  2. 1 2 3 Allan Heninger (1975-05-02). "NRHP Inventory/Nomination: Racine Harbor Lighthouse and Life Saving Station". National Park Service . Retrieved 2018-07-24. With one photo.
  3. Pepper, Terry. "Root River Lights". Seeing the Light. Terry Pepper. Retrieved 2018-07-27.
  4. "Racine Harbor Lighthouse and Life Saving Station". Wisconsin Historical Society. January 2012. Retrieved 2018-07-24.