Pottawatomie Light facts for kids
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| Potawatomi Lighthouse 2004 | |
 Pottawatomie Light
Location in Wisconsin
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| Location | Rock Island, Door County, Wisconsin |
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| Coordinates | 45°25′39″N 86°49′41″W / 45.42750°N 86.82806°W |
| Year first lit | 1836 |
| Automated | 1966 |
| Deactivated | 1988 |
| Foundation | Stone |
| Construction | Limestone |
| Tower shape | Square, integral with keeper house |
| Markings / pattern | natural with black lantern |
| Height | 41 feet (12 m) |
| Focal height | 159 feet (48 m) |
| Original lens | Fresnel lens |
| Range | 7 nautical miles (13 km; 8.1 mi) |
| Characteristic | Fl W 4s 159 Light is obscured from 275° to 020° by dense foliage |
| ARLHS number | USA-664 |
| USCG number | 7-21425 |
Pottawatomie Lighthouse, also known as the Rock Island Light, is located in Rock Island State Park, on Rock Island in Door County, Wisconsin. Lit in 1836, it is the oldest light station in Wisconsin and on Lake Michigan. It was served by civilian light keepers from 1836 to the 1940s, at which point it was taken over by the US Coast Guard.
History
The first lighthouse on the spot was a structure built in 1836. It was demolished in the late 1850s and replaced by the existing lighthouse. The current building was first lit in 1858 and continued as an active aid to navigation until 1988, when it was replaced with a modern skeletal tower and automated system.
It is the oldest lighthouse in Door County, which has the most lighthouses of any Wisconsin county.
The lighthouse was restored by the Friends of Rock Island Lighthouse. It is open for tours during the summer as the Pottawatomie Lighthouse Museum. The lighthouse has been restored to a state illustrating its appearance circa 1909-1913. The restoration was performed with the help from the non-profit Friends Of Rock Island State Park. It now serves as a museum that is open for tours daily from Memorial Day to Columbus Day 10am to 4pm. The lighthouse remains closed for the 2020 season due to COVID-19 restrictions.
The lighthouse was listed as Pottawatomie Lighthouse in the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, as reference #79000074. The fresnel lens, lost after the lighthouse was shut down in the late 1980s, was replaced by a plexiglass copy in 1999.
Gallery
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The interior has been historically restored.
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USCG archive photo
- 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.
- 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.
- Sweet, Tim. "Lighting the outer limits". Wisconsin Natural Resources (February 2000).
- Wright, Larry and Wright, Patricia, Great Lakes Lighthouses Encyclopedia Hardback (Erin: Boston Mills Press, 2006) ISBN: 1-55046-399-3.
Images for kids
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