Baileys Harbor Range Lights
The Baileys Harbor Range Lights are a pair of lighthouses arranged in a range light configuration, located near Baileys Harbor in Door County, Wisconsin, United States.
Location | Door County, US |
---|---|
Water body | Baileys Harbor |
Coordinates | 45°04′19″N 87°07′12″W |
Construction | lumber |
Baileys Harbor Range Front Light | |
Coordinates | 45°04′13″N 87°07′11″W |
Constructed | 1869 |
Foundation | Field stone |
Construction | Wood |
Automated | 1930 |
Height | 21 feet (6.4 m) |
Shape | Square base, upper is octagonal |
Markings | KRW |
Heritage | NRHP contributing property |
First lit | 1869 |
Deactivated | 1969-2015 |
Focal height | 7 m (23 ft) |
Lens | Fifth order Fresnel (1897)[1] (original), LED (current) |
Characteristic | F R |
Baileys Harbor Range Rear Light | |
Coordinates | 45°04′22″N 87°07′16″W |
Constructed | 1870 |
Foundation | Field stone |
Construction | Wood |
Automated | 1930 |
Height | 30 feet (9.1 m)[2] |
Shape | Square, atop a house |
Markings | White w/black and red markings |
Heritage | NRHP contributing property |
First lit | 1870 |
Deactivated | 1969-2015 |
Focal height | 36 feet (11 m)[3] |
Lens | Fifth order Fresnel (original), LED (current) |
Characteristic | directional mark |
Baileys Harbor Directional Light | |
Foundation | Concrete |
Construction | Metal skeleton tower with red/white/red dayboard[4] |
Height | 21 m (69 ft) |
First lit | 1969 |
Deactivated | 2015 |
Focal height | 21 m (69 ft) |
Characteristic | White light Flashing every 2.5 seconds, with a higher intensity beam on a bearing of 340°[5][6] |
Baileys Harbor Range Light | |
Location | Roughly Co. Rd. Q, Ridges Rd., and WI 57, Baileys Harbor, Wisconsin |
Coordinates | 45°4′19″N 87°7′13″W |
Area | 5.4 acres (2.2 ha) |
Built | 1869 |
Architect | Breitbach, Andrew |
NRHP reference No. | 89001466[7] |
Added to NRHP | September 21, 1989 |
History
The range lights replaced the Baileys Harbor Lighthouse in 1870 at a cost of $6,000.[8] They are approximately 980 feet (300 m) apart and aligned on a 340° bearing line to guide boats safely into the harbor. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989, as reference number 89001466 as the Baileys Harbor Range Light. Currently part of the Ridges wildlife sanctuary, which is listed on the List of National Natural Landmarks in Wisconsin. The grounds may be visited and guided tours are given during peak tourist seasons.
The Bailey's Harbor Range Light is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Reference #89001466, as BAILEYS HARBOR RANGE LIGHT. It is also on the State List/Inventory as of 1988.[8]
After 1969, the Coast Guard removed lighting equipment from the original buildings and replaced them with a single directional light on the beach. In 1990, the Ridges Sanctuary took possession of the buildings and began restoring them; this was completed during the 1990s, when both buildings were rewired to supply electricity to the lamps. A skeleton tower, which was listed in Volume VII of the United States Coast Guard light list, provided shipping guidance until 2015, when the original range lights were updated with modern LED lamps and brought back online.
Gallery
- Bailey's Harbor Lower Range Light plaque.
- Lower Range Light with skeleton tower removed.
- Plaque at the base of the lower range light for The Ridges Sanctuary.
Notes
- "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Wisconsin". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on May 1, 2017.
- Database of Tower Heights by Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light (Archived October 23, 2021)
- Pepper, Terry. "Database of Focal Heights". Seeing the Light. terrypepper.com. Archived from the original on June 9, 2021.
- Bailey's Harbor Range Lights in Lighthouse Resources: Historic Lighthouses & Light Stations, United States Coast Guard, October 21, 2019
- Light List, Volume VII, Great Lakes (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard. 2014.
- "Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society, Baileys Harbor Lower Front Range (Lake Michigan) Light ARLHS USA-936".
- "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- National Park Service, Maritime History Project, Inventory of Historic Light Stations - Wisconsin (Archived August 25, 2012)
Further reading
- Door County Maritime Museum, Baileys Harbor Range Lights.
- 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, Baileys Harbor Range Lights.
- Pepper, Terry. "Seeing the Light: Lighthouses on the western Great Lakes". Archived from the original on April 2, 2022.
- 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.
- Wright, Larry and Wright, Patricia, Great Lakes Lighthouses Encyclopedia Hardback (Erin: Boston Mills Press, 2006) ISBN 1-55046-399-3.
External links
Media related to Baileys Harbor Range Lights at Wikimedia Commons
- Door County Lighthouses, Door County Marine Museum.
- Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Eastern Wisconsin". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
- Satellite View, Baileys Harbor Range Lights at Google Maps.