Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA (2008)
A four mile concrete breakwater protects Milwaukee harbor and the mouth of its river from cruel and punishing storms that form on Lake Michigan and slam against the shoreline. Ships accessing the protective waters of the harbor sail through a small aperture. The Milwaukee Breakwater Light marks the approach (map).
The light came into service in 1926 and it continues to serve as a navigational aid today. While the steel frame structure remains original, notable operational changes took place over preceding decades. Originally people manned the station, assuring that lights and fog signals retained their proper duration and frequency. Automation took over in 1966 and the lightkeepers returned to shore permanently.
The 53-foot tower originally housed a French-made 4th order Fresnel lens composed of cut glass and illuminated by an acetylene lamp. A much more utilitarian but technologically advanced plastic lens replaced it in 1991. The beautifully intricate antique lens can now be found at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc, part of the historic lighthouse lenses display found in its Riverside Gallery. The United States Coast Guard offered it on permanent loan.
The Milwaukee Breakwater Light sits within a major metropolitan area in eyesight of thousands of people every day, but it can be viewed closely only by boat. It cannot be approached by land and in even if it could the Coast Guard does not allow public access. So I took the photograph above from the grounds of Milwaukee’s Discovery World science and technology museum with a telephoto lens. That’s about the best I could do on this lighthouse sighting.
Readers who have an interest in lighthouses might also want to check my Lighthouse Index page.
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