Former Lighthouse and Keepers Quarters in WI

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The town of Kenosha (or Southport, as it was originally known) was settled in a well planned manner. The growing opportunity in the West of the 1830s was much speculated upon in the East. One group of Hannibal, New York residents organized a corporation called the Western Emigration Company to find and settle a spot on the western shore of Lake Michigan. This place had to be a prime agricultural area, and it had to show the makings of a great harbor. The Western Emigration Company was determined that their new town become a commercial success, and in the mid-west of the 1830s that meant shipping.

Once the settlers arrived at Southport, they realized that what at first seemed to be a natural harbor would actually need a great deal of work to become useful. The History of the Great Lakes described the harbor:

As early as 1837, the inhabitants of the town began petitioning Congress for funds to make a workable harbor. In the meantime, they devised their own makeshift lighthouse to serve the increasing activity on its shore. Its base was the ten foot high stump of an oak tree located twelve rods south of the present harbor. Large flat stones were laid atop the stump, and a fire was lit on top of those, every night during the navigation season. Community members took turns tending their "lighthouse", rotating on a weekly basis. The determination of these settlers to make Southport an important commercial center is evident in these early efforts to create a harbor with its own navigational aid.

The first permanent lighthouse structure erected in Southport was also a community project. In 1840, John Stryker collected sixty dollars for the building of a more modern light. This structure consisted of four posts, twenty-four feet high, which supported a platform. On this platform rested a three foot square lantern. Though not as primitive as the first beacon, this lantern and its supporting structure was still not the substantial lighthouse that Southport's busy harbor needed. The residents continued to petition Congress for harbor improvements and finally, in 1844, $12,5000 was appropriated for the building of a harbor. An additional $15,000 was appropriated the following year.

In 1847, private owners sold lot number thirty in block number one of valued real estate to the United States government for the purpose of building a lighthouse. The lighthouse was erected in 1848 and was one of the first of these government structures to be built on the Wisconsin shore of Lake Michigan. Two years later Southport was incorporated and changed its name to Kenosha.

The Kenosha lighthouse was part of the navigation system originated by the federal government through the Lighthouse Establishment. This entity was begun in 1789 and originally empowered to acquire, maintain, and operate 12 lighthouses on the Atlantic coast. The Lighthouse Establishment was originally envisioned as a temporary organization, but by 1820 had become permanent and expanded its authority to fifty-five light stations. By the mid-1840s, the numbers had grown to three hundred and twenty-five lighthouses and lightships.

These early lights were erected largely to serve local needs and were only nominally part of an overall strategy for developing systematic navigational aids. Congressional authorization of coastal lighthouse districts managed by appointed naval officers was an important step toward the development of a more fully integrated lighthouse program. In 1851, the Secretary of the Treasury appointed a board to review the activities of the Lighthouse Establishment and make recommendations regarding the nation's lights. The government wished to "maintain a light-house system which should be commensurate with the wants of our increasing commerce and the unrivaled resources of the country." The act placed Army engineers in charge of construction work on lighthouses and authorized the replacement of Argand lamps with more effective Fresnel lenses.

The lighthouse board recommended sweeping revisions to the nation's lighthouse system and a permanent Lighthouse Board was created in 1852, mainly comprised of engineers and scientists. The Board was responsible for numerous improvements in lighthouse design including the bell buoy, siren fog signal, whistling buoy, and gas buoy. The result of this reorganization was the creation of a comprehensive system of navigational aids in the United States. In 1910, the Lighthouse Board was replaced by the Bureau of Lighthouses which was later superseded by the United States Coast Guard in 1939, which maintains the navigational system today.

Navigational aids on the Great Lakes developed as part of this national system. Within four years after the construction of the first lighthouse on the Great Lakes in 1818, the network had grown to five lighthouses on Lake Ontario and one on Lake Erie. Lake Michigan's first light was erected at the mouth of the Chicago River in 1832. With the tremendous growth of Great Lakes shipping in the 1840s and early 1850s came a boom in the construction of light stations. From 1840 to 1852 twenty-seven lighthouses were erected on Lake Michigan alone.

With the opening of the Erie Canal in 1826, the Great Lakes were connected to the Atlantic Ocean and Great Lakes shipping received a major boost by providing a cheaper water route to lake ports. Regular steamer lines between Buffalo and Chicago began in 1939 and facilitated the movement of immigrants to the Midwest. Schooner traffic in this period was generally confined to the supply of small lakeshore settlements. Schooners brought manufactured goods from the east in exchange for exportable raw materials. The opening of the canal at Sault Ste. Marie in 1849 linked all five lakes and allowed the shipment of bulk cargoes such as lumber and grain which made up the bulk of Lake Michigan commerce.

Chicago and Milwaukee were booming commercial shipping areas, and with the lack of natural harbors all along the coast, the need for a government regulated navigational system was essential. The Kenosha light-houses of 1848, and later, 1866, were important parts of this system.

By the early 1860s, Kenosha's harbor was in need of structural improvements and was gradually losing its commercial activity. With sand and silt filling the harbor's basin, short piers, and a dilapidated lighthouse, lake vessels were passing by Kenosha in search of more welcoming ports. In response to the requests of financially-worried Kenosha citizens, Congress appropriated $75,000 in 1866 for improvements to the city's harbor. These improvements included the extension of both north and south piers by several hundred feet, dredging between the piers to a depth of eleven to twelve feet, and erecting a new pierhead beacon. These harbor improvements would extend the busy days of Kenosha's harbor significantly, doubling trade between 1866 and 1867, and attracting the business of Goodrich line Steamers and other commercial vessels.

Expecting increased traffic along Kenosha's coastline and inside her port, Congress appropriated an additional $4,000 in 1866 for the construction of a new lighthouse. The old 1848 light station on Washington Island was in sad need of replacement; her inside and outer walls were crumbling and cracked from the harsh weather conditions along the water's edge, and the structure's foundation was very insecure. Considerable excavation had to be done in order to create a firm foundation for the new tower, but fortunately, much of the old light station's building materials could be used in the station's construction.

Slowly and steadily, the new light tower and keeper's dwelling rose above Kenosha harbor during the year 1866. While the light station was under construction, and no tower light was in operation, the small, newly erected pierhead beacon served as the harbor's main light. The new light tower was of very strong brick and stone construction, rising fifty-two feet above the ground, which at that point, was eighteen feet above the lake. Inside it had a spiral, iron Stairway reaching to the top, and a top deck of about one-half-inch iron fastened solidly to the masonry and twelve and a half feet in diameter. After workers had shipped soil over from the mainland to prevent the sand around the new light station from shifting, the federal government declared the light station completed in 1867, and the main tower commenced its long watch over Kenosha's harbor.

Despite the failure of Kenosha to become a major harbor on the Great Lakes, it conveyed a considerable amount of tonnage through its port and while not an active port, shipped and received 83,972 tons of goods in 1897, roughly comparable to other Wisconsin harbors such as Port Washington, Two Rivers, and Oconto.

In 1903 the Lighthouse Board discontinued the tower light in Kenosha. The station was far from the actual harbor area and pierhead beacons serviced the area much better than the tower itself. In addition, a new leading light in Racine, Wisconsin was being built, which would more adequately provide navigational aid along the lake. Government workers moved the flashing, white light from the tower to the breakwater beacon, where it replace the red, fixed light there. Since a keeper was still needed to regulate the pierhead and breakwater lights, the light station's dwelling was retained, and in 1907, Congress appropriated $2,500 for additions to the house, so that three men could live and maintain harbor aids there. The house was also newly plastered and provided with hardwood floors, new doors, and hardware for the comfort of its inhabitants. With its light discontinued, the tower continued to serve as a navigational aid on the lake. The United States Light Service had turned over its care and upkeep to the newly formed U.S. Coast Guard in 1942. Eventually, the station's one half acre of property was deeded to the city of Kenosha. Soon after, the Coast Guard stopped issuing storm warning signals from the tower and began using radio for weather warnings to navigators.

Site Description

The old Kenosha lighthouse and keeper's house is located north of the channel into Kenosha Harbor on a land mass commonly known as "Simmons Island." The structures are approximately 405 meters from the westerly shore of Lake Michigan, and approximately 200 meters from the north waterline of the channel entrance to the harbor. Of the original structures, only the lighthouse tower and keeper's dwelling remain. These structures rest atop a bluff, the crest of which is approximately 18 feet above the water of the late and harbor.

The detached lighthouse is a conical tower constructed of cream colored brick on a stone foundation with weathered remains of a mortar coat. It rises 55 feet above the ground. The sides taper slightly to a corbelled, sawtooth cornice. An iron deck of approximately one half inch thickness and 12.5 feet in diameter, is fastened to the cornice. An iron railing of the same diameter is attached to this deck. Stone steps lead to the one doorway above which is a datestone which reads "1866". Access is gained through a pair of five-panel wooden doors. There are three small windows in the tower, each with a wooden four-light sash, stone lintels and sills. One of these windows is currently boarded up. The lighthouse interior features a dramatic cast iron spiral staircase. The staircase is highly ornamental and consists of individual cast iron treads which tie into a central hub. The treads are cast with a pierced diamond patterned grill work. The risers are open arches with a decorative pierced fleur-de-lis bracket where the riser meets the hub.

The keeper's house is also constructed of cream colored brick and rests on a cut stone foundation. The building is ell-shaped in plan and two stories in height, and is topped by a gabled roof clad with asphalt shingles. There is a two-story porch at the ell supported by wood posts with simple capitals. There are eight six-over-six, seven one-over-one, and one two-over-two sash windows on the first floor. On the second floor there are six six-over-six, and five one-over-one sash windows. The six-over-six sash appear original to the 1866 structure. Each window opening features a simple rectangular stone lintel and sill. The ground level, southwest door is flanked by side lights with a transom above. Three chimneys rise above the tar shingle roof. The massing, fenestration and entrance show a strong Greek Revival influence.

The current, primary front entrance is at the junction of the ell. Upon entering there is a small ante-room (created by enclosing a portion of the porch) beyond which is the living room. To the immediate right of that doorway is another which leads to the original front entrance. In that hallway is a door leading to the basement and a stairway leading to the second floor. The dining room is located southeast of the living room. There is a small room, currently used as an office located just off the north side of the dining room. Just north of this office is a bedroom. Directly opposite the entrance from the living room to the dining room is the doorway opening on the kitchen. Immediately to the right upon entering the kitchen is a pantry. Directly opposite is the rear door of the house.

At the top of the stairs leading to the second story of the keeper's dwelling is a short hallway with a closet at the west end. Directly opposite the top of the top of the stairway is a doorway to two bedrooms, with the entrance to the second opposite the first entrance off the hallway. At the east end of the entrance to the third bedroom. Opposite that entrance is the entrance to a fourth bedroom.

The basement stairs lead directly to a bedroom. At the right of this bedroom is an entrance to the furnace and other utilities for the house. The wainscoting and moldings are painted wood. The interior walls are constructed of plaster and lath. No significant changes have occurred to the building since 1913.

"Considerable excavation" began in 1866 for the lighthouse at 42 35' 24" north latitude, 87 48' 56" west longitude, Kenosha, Wisconsin. Much of the material from the old tower, built in 1848, was used in the construction of the new. The tower was 55 feet tall, upon which the cupola was built, raising the elevation of the light beam to 76 feet from lake level. The conical brick tower on a stone foundation had walls four feet thick. Inside was a circular, iron stairway to the top, and an iron top deck which was 1/2 inch thick as 12.5 feet in diameter. It was fitted with a fourth-order Fresnel lens.

Two other buildings, none of which are extant, comprised the original light station complex. A barn of unknown dimensions stood east of the tower and house. A small round iron brick-lined oil house stood to the north of the house. Only the tower and keeper's house remain standing today.

According to the 1867 Annual Report of the Lighthouse Board, soil had been brought from the mainland and spread on the lighthouse lot to prevent shifting of the sand.

In 1903 the light at the 1866 lighthouse was discontinued by order of the Lighthouse Board. However, the keeper continued to occupy the keeper's dwelling in order to maintain the new pier head light.

In 1907 the keeper's house underwent significant changes, which are evident today: the two story ell and porches were added to the north side of the house; a one story addition was attached to the kitchen on the southeast corner of the house; and a room was added to the second story above the kitchen. Bathrooms were also added. In 1913 the Lighthouse Board approved a Weather Bureau proposal to erect a storm warning tower on top of the lighthouse. In that year a 15 foot steel tower and flagstaff was secured to the lighthouse ell and the oil house was removed.

In 1941 the light station was inspected. Only the light tower, keeper's dwelling, and a storeroom remained. Their condition was rated "only fair". The Cupola and lantern were removed in 1959, and in 1966 the Kenosha Chief Building Inspector reported that the tower was in "poor condition", noting that the interior staircase was rusty, and the landing cracked. Today, the tower windows and door are boarded up due to the persistent break-ins and pigeons.

Looking west (1989)

Looking north (1989)

Looking southwest (1989)

Looking southeast (1989)

Tower base, looking east (1989)