Wind Point Light

Wind Point Light

Wind Point Lighthouse
Location Wind Point, Wisconsin
Coordinates 42°45′52.122″N 87°45′29.995″W / 42.76447833°N 87.75833194°W / 42.76447833; -87.75833194Coordinates: 42°45′52.122″N 87°45′29.995″W / 42.76447833°N 87.75833194°W / 42.76447833; -87.75833194[1]
Year first lit 1880
Automated 1964
Construction brick, Italianate bracketing
Height 108 feet (33 m)
Original lens Third Order Fresnel
Range 21 nautical miles (39 km; 24 mi)[1]
ARLHS number USA-894
USCG number

7-20605[1]

Historic Lighthouse
Architect Orlando Metcalfe Poe
NRHP Reference # 84003780

Wind Point Lighthouse (or Windpoint Light Station) 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,[2] it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (Reference #84003780).[3]

History

Wind Point Lighthouse was designed by Orlando Metcalfe Poe and constructed in 1880. The beacon was originally powered by a three-wicked kerosene lamp, magnified by a third-order Fresnel lens. The light was electrified in 1924, and replaced a DCB-24R airport beacon in 1964. The DCB-24R failed in 2007, and was replaced by a VRB-25 lens.[4] A signal house (horns removed, resonators still in place) remains on the grounds as well as a garage, two storage buildings, and an oil house. The Village of Wind Point has maintained the lighthouse and grounds since 1964, and uses the old keepers' quarters as a village hall and police headquarters.[5]

In the summer of 2007, the lighthouse tower underwent a US$210,000 restoration,[6] during which windows and doors were replaced, brickwork repointed, and the tower repainted.

The shipwreck site of the Kate Kelly is located 2 miles (3.2 km) east of the lighthouse.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Light List, Volume VII, Great Lakes (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard. 2014.
  2. ↑ "Wind Point Lighthouse history" (PDF). Friends of the Wind Point Lighthouse. Retrieved 2007-11-25.
  3. ↑ "Wind Point Light". Inventory of Historic Light Stations. National Park Service. Retrieved 2007-11-25.
  4. ↑ http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=242
  5. ↑ "Wind Point Lighthouse tour" (PDF). Friends of the Wind Point Lighthouse. Retrieved 2007-11-25.
  6. ↑ "July 2007 newsletter" (PDF). Village of Wind Point. Retrieved 2007-11-25.
  7. ↑ "Introduction". Wisconsin Shipwrecks.org.

Specialized 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". 
  • Sapulski, Wayne S., (2001) Lighthouses of Lake Michigan: Past and Present (Paperback) (Fowlerville: Wilderness Adventure Books) ISBN 0-923568-47-6; ISBN 978-0-923568-47-4.
  • Taylor, Paul (October 2009) Orlando M. Poe: Civil War General and Great Lakes Engineer (Kent State University Press) ISBN 1-60635-040-4; ISBN 978-1-60635-040-9.
  • Wright, Larry and Wright, Patricia, Great Lakes Lighthouses Encyclopedia Hardback (Erin: Boston Mills Press, 2006) ISBN 1-55046-399-3.
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