Kewaunee Pierhead Lighthouse

Sept. 10, 2019
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Kewaunee Pierhead Lighthouse, Kewaunee, Wisconsin

KEWAUNEE PIERHEAD LIGHT

Location: End of a breakwater on the south side of the entrance to the Kewaunee River, Lake Michigan
Station Established: 1889
Year Current Tower(s) First Lit: 1931
Operational: Yes
Automated: Yes
Deactivated: N/A
Foundation Materials: Pier
Construction Materials: Steel
Tower Shape: Square on rectangular house
Markings/Pattern: White with red roof
Relationship to Other Structure: Integral
Height: 45 feet
Characteristic: Fixed red
Original Lens: 5th Order, Fresnel
Fog Signal: 10-inch steam whistle; blasts 3 seconds, silent intervals 17 seconds (as of 1901); diaphone-type fog horn (1909)

HISTORICAL INFORMATION:

  • Originally a pair of range lights was installed on the pier in 1891.
  • In 1931 the Front Range light was removed when a new tower was constructed on top of the fog building that had been constructed in 1909 right behind the Front Range light. The Lantern and fifth-order Fresnel lens were moved from the range light to the new tower.
  • In 2009 the light was deemed “excess” by the U.S. Coast Guard.

Researched and written by Anne Puppa, a volunteer through the Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Lighthouse Society.