Chequamegon Point Light

Chequamegon Point Light
Location Long Island, Wisconsin
Coordinates 46°43′42.55″N 90°48′33.38″W / 46.7284861°N 90.8092722°W / 46.7284861; -90.8092722Coordinates: 46°43′42.55″N 90°48′33.38″W / 46.7284861°N 90.8092722°W / 46.7284861; -90.8092722[1]
Year first lit 1896
Automated 1964
Foundation Originally on a concrete pier
Construction Iron
Tower shape White skeletal
Height 35 feet (11 m)
Focal height 42 feet (13 m)[2]
Original lens Fourth order Fresnel lens
Range 7 nautical miles (13 km; 8.1 mi)[1]
ARLHS number USA-164[3][4]
USCG number 7-15295

The Chequamegon Point Lighthouse is a lighthouse located on Long Island, one of the Apostle Islands, in Lake Superior in Ashland County, Wisconsin, near the city of Bayfield.[5]

The Chequamegon Point light was maintained by the keeper of the La Pointe Light (about a mile away) and its original lens came from there. A boardwalk connected them, so light keepers could ride bicycles between the lights.[6] It is currently owned by the National Park Service and part of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.

The lighthouse was moved back on to the shoreline after it was replaced by a modern D9 cylindrical tower (a "sewer pipe" with light and fog signal) constructed in 1986.[6]

In 1868 the original was established on Long Island's western end, marking the entrance to Chequamegon Bay and with it the towns of Washburn and Ashland.[6]

In 1896, it was replaced by a square, white steel room sitting on steel legs. The room is topped by an octagonal lantern with a red roof. The concept echoes that of Lake Huron's Alpena Light.[6] There are also skeletal towers of various other designs in the western Great Lakes.[7]

In 1986, the Coast Guard moved the light back from the shore, where it was threatened by erosion. Access is by walking from the dock at the La Pointe station along the beach.

References

  1. 1 2 Light List, Volume VII, Great Lakes (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard.
  2. ↑ Pepper, Terry. "Seeing the Light: Lighthouses on the western Great Lakes". Archived from the original on 2008-01-30.
  3. ↑ Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society, Chequamegon Point (Lake Superior) Light ARLHS USA-164.
  4. ↑ Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society, World List of Lights (WLOL).
  5. ↑ "Chequamegon Lighthouse". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Wobser, David, Chequamegon Point Light, from an article that originally appeared in Great Laker Magazine at boatnerd.com.
  7. ↑ See, List of Tower Types, Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light.

Further reading

  • Havighurst, Walter (1943) The Long Ships Passing: The Story of the Great Lakes, Macmillan Publishers.
  • Merkel, James, Long Island Light, The Overlooked Light of the Apostles (March, 2000) pp. 19-21. Lighthouse Digest.
  • 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". Archived from the original on 2008-01-30.
  • Wright, Larry and Wright, Patricia, Great Lakes Lighthouses Encyclopedia Hardback (Erin: Boston Mills Press, 2006) ISBN 1-55046-399-3.
USCG archive photo
  • Lighthouse friends article
  • NPS Inventory of Historic Light Stations - Wisconsin
  • Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Northern Wisconsin". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
  • "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Wisconsin". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.
  • Light List, Volume VII, Great Lakes (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard. - Current D9 light is listed
  • Wobser, David, Chequamegon Point Light, from an article that originally appeared in Great Laker Magazine at boatnerd.com.
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