September 24, 2020
I have to admit it; I spent a lot of Thursday taking photographs of old barns, farms and other structures I found along the roads. So, it was noon on Thursday before I arrived at my next official target – the lighthouse at Rawley Point, in Point Beach State Forest.
The facility is located near Two Rivers, Wisconsin. At 111 feet tall, it is the tallest lighthouse on the Wisconsin Shore. It’s located northeast of Two Rivers, Wisconsin and it’s visually impressive. Historians report that Peter Rowley established a trading post at Twin River Point in 1835, and in 1841 surveyors named the area Rowley Point in his honor. This name was later changed to Rawley Point, a name that endures to this day. The tower’s third-order Fresnel lens was removed in 1952, after one of its prisms was damaged, and twin DCB-36 aerobeacons were installed. A New Year’s Eve fire in 1962 caused substantial damage to the newer portion of the keeper’s dwelling. One Coast Guardsman was severely burned, and the three families living there were forced to evacuate. Rawley Point Lighthouse was staffed until 1979, when the station became fully automated. The present optic was installed in 1987. The keepers’ dwelling at Rawley Point is currently used as a rental cottage for Coast Guard personnel. These Coast Guard people in lighthouses seem to be as serious about partying as they are about the prohibitions against civilians on their property! Hmmm…
The North Pier Lighthouse in Two Rivers Wisconsin proved to be a bit of an Easter egg hunt. I cruised along the lakefront in Two Rivers for quite a while, thinking “How can I be missing the lighthouse?” before I finally did the inevitable. I stopped to ask someone at a local hotel. This historic 1886 lighthouse is no longer on the lake. It has been lopped off and the top part of the lighthouse is now an exhibit at the Rogers Street Fishing Village and Great Lakes Coast Guard Museum. That’s honestly probably enough said about this one. The address of the Rogers Street Fishing Village is 2102 Jackson Street, Two Rivers, Wisconsin. Knock yourself out!
My next official stop was the Manitowoc Breakwater Lighthouse. This facility is located at the end of the North Pier defining Manitowoc, Wisconsin’s harbor. It sits and the end of a 400-foot-long breakwater, and the surroundings are a beautiful place to stroll on a warm summer day. There’s public access as far as the lighthouse itself, but – although it is no longer operational and is now privately owned – you can’t get inside to see any of the interior.
In 2009, Manitowoc Breakwater Lighthouse, deemed excess by the Coast Guard, was offered at no cost to eligible entities. It had been automated since 1971. Philip Carlucci of Melville, New York won the auction, and spent over $300,000 on restoration, which was completed in 2018. As nearly as I can determine, it’s just been sitting there ever since.
If you decide to visit this one, you should know that the parking lot is long way from the actual lighthouse – I’d estimate it’s a half mile minimum. But, unlike most of the other lighthouses I visited on this excursion, it’s nice, level, clean walkways all the way out with only a few stairs at one point if memory serves. There are also some other exhibits as well as local restaurants within walking distance.
