Milwaukee Pierhead Light

Milwaukee Pierhead Light

Milwaukee Pierhead Light
Location	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Coordinates	43°01′33.63″N 87°53′43.25″W / 43.0260083°N 87.8953472°W / 43.0260083; -87.8953472Coordinates: 43°01′33.63″N 87°53′43.25″W / 43.0260083°N 87.8953472°W / 43.0260083; -87.8953472[citation needed]
Year first lit	1906
Automated	circa 1939
Foundation	concrete pier
Construction	Steel
Tower shape	Frustum of a cone, decagonal lantern room
Markings / pattern	Red with black lantern and parapet[1]
Height	41 ft (12 m) tower[2]
Focal height	Focal plane – 48 feet (15 m)[3]
Original lens	Fourth-order Fresnel lens[1]
Current lens	unknown "modern beacon"[4]
Range	7 miles (11 km)
Characteristic	Red flashing light every 4 seconds[5]
ARLHS number	USA-498[6][7]
USCG number	7-20670

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.^[8]

History

The station was established in 1872. It is west of the Milwaukee Breakwater Light, and is near the outflow of the Milwaukee River -- not far east of where that river converged with the Kinnickinnic River -- into the Milwaukee Harbor and Lake Michigan.^[4]

This light has a round steel tower with a round gallery and a ten-sided lantern. In 1926, the original 4th Order Fresnel lens was transferred to the Milwaukee Breakwater Light, and that lens is now displayed at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The Fifth Order Fresnel lens—installed in 1926—was removed in 2005. The tower is newly painted circa 2007.^[9] The 5th Order lens is said to be on display also at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum.^[10]

According to one source: "The original lantern room had helical bar windows and is believed to [be] the one presently on the Breakwater Light."^[11] This is corroborated by the report that the Breakwater Light has a "round cast iron lantern room [that] features helical astragal" in the lantern.^[12]

A Submarine cable runs from this light to the Milwaukee Breakwater Light, upon which a lighted danger warning is displayed.^[5]

The light was recently painted, circa 2007.^[8]

From 1872 until 1926, the light had its own keepers.^[13][14] Thereafter, this light, like all of the lights in the harbor, was serviced by the resident Lighthouse keepers who were stationed at the neighboring North Point Light Station until it was automated.^[12]

The light is not listed on the National Register of Historic Places or the state list.^[10]

Directions

The light is located in downtown Milwaukee, at the end of East Erie Street, which leads to a short pier. Parking is available. The pier may be walked, but the tower is closed.

I-43 to east I-794. Take exit(1F)(Lincoln Memorial Drive), proceed north to Michigan Street. Turn right onto Michigan. Turn right onto Harbor Drive and proceed under the interstate to Polk Street. Turn right on Polk, which ends at Erie Street. Turn left on Erie into the parking lot where it ends.^[15]

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Wisconsin". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. http://www.uscg.mil/history/weblighthouses/LHWI.asp. 
2. ^ Pepper, Terry. "Database of Tower Heights". Seeing the Light. terrypepper.com. http://www.terrypepper.com/lights/lists/towers.htm. 
3. ^ Pepper, Terry. "Database of Focal Heights". Seeing the Light. terrypepper.com. http://www.terrypepper.com/lights/lists/focalheight.htm. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Lighthouse friends, Milwaukee Pierhead Light article.
5. ^ ^{a b} (PDF) Light List, Volume VII, Great Lakes. Light List. United States Coast Guard. http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/pdf/lightLists/LightList%20V7.pdf. 
6. ^ "Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society, Milwaukee Pierhead (Lake Michigan) Light ARLHS USA-498". http://wlol.arlhs.com/lighthouse/USA498.html. 
7. ^ "Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society, World List of Lights.". http://arlhs.com/awards/U_list.html. 
8. ^ ^{a b} Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Eastern Wisconsin". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/lighthouse/wi.htm. 
9. ^ But compare, Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Eastern Wisconsin". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/lighthouse/wi.htm.  which opines that the whereabouts of the 5th Order lens are "unknown".
10. ^ ^{a b} National Park Service Maritime History Project, Inventory of Historic Light Stations - Wisconsin - Milwaukee Pierhead Light.
11. ^ Wobser, David, Milwaukee Pier Head Light, boatnerd.com.
12. ^ ^{a b} Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light, Milwaukee Breakwater Light.
13. ^ 12th District Survey of Pier Head light dated 1873.
14. ^ Tag, Phyllis L., Great Lakes Lighthouse Research, List of Milwaukee Pierhead/Breakwater Lighthouse keepers.
15. ^ Lighthouse friends, Milwaukee Breakwater Light article

Specialized additional reading

• Eckert, Jack A. A Small Slice of Life—Milwaukee Breakwater Light Station. Lighthouse Digest (October, 2003).
• 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". http://www.terrypepper.com/lights/index.htm. 
• Sapulski, Wayne S., (2001) Lighthouses of Lake Michigan: Past and Present (Paperback) (Fowlerville: Wilderness Adventure Books) ISBN 0923568476; ISBN 978-0923568474.
• Wright, Larry and Wright, Patricia, Great Lakes Lighthouses Encyclopedia Hardback (Erin: Boston Mills Press, 2006) ISBN 1-55046-399-3.

External links

USCG archive photo

• Huelse, Klaus -- Meine Leuchtturm-Seite: Leuchttürme USA auf historischen Postkarten -- Historic postcard images of U.S. lighthouses, Historic Post Card View — Milwaukee Pierhead Lighthouse.
• Satellite view of Milwaukee Pierhead Light, Google earth.
• Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light, Milwaukee Pierhead Light.
• Wobser, David, Milwaukee Pier Head Light, boatnerd.com.