Racine Reef

Type:
Year Established:
1899
Existing:
No
Non-Existing (More Info.):
Replaced with Minor ATON
Source:
LL-1901
Racine Reef WI from Old Postcard
Download:
File Type:
jpg (image/jpeg)
Photo Date:
ca 1909
Photo Credit:
Old Postcard
Photo Courtesy of:
US Lighthouse Society Archives
Collection / Donor:

LOCATION

Location:
Lake Michigan
Latitude:
42 43'39"
Longitude:
87 44'10"
U.S. State:
Wisconsin
Country:
United States

OWNER & ACCESS

Open to Public:
No

STRUCTURE

Year Discontinued:
1961
Disposition:
Destroyed
Year Tower Established:
1906
Tower Construction Material:
Brick- Concrete
Tower Foundation:
concrete
Height, in feet, from base of structure to center of lantern:
72 Feet
Tower Shape:
Octagonal
Tower Daymark:
White
Fog Signal Building?:
No
Keeper's Quarters?:
No
Year Keeper's Quarters:
1906
Keeper's Quarters Style:
integrated
Keeper's Quarters Construction:
Brick

OPTICS

Active Aid to Navigation?:
No
Original Optic Type:
4th order Fresnel
Year Original Lens Installed:
1906
Private Aid:
No
Year Automated:
1954
USCG Access to Optics:
No
Comments:

Historical Information:

  • 1899: Racine Reef Light was built to warn of the Racine Reef when it was found the Wind Point light did not fully serve this purpose. Too many ships continued to sink here. This first was an unmanned light that was serviced by the Racine Harbor Keeper.
  • 1903: This light proved inadequate so congress approved money for a better lighthouse.
  • 1906: This new light was first lit and contained a fourth-order Fresnel lens. The old light was moved to the outer breakwater in Chicago.
  • 1961:  The last Coast Guard crew left the lighthouse in August. The Army Corps of Engineers destroyed the lighthouse in September and October and then mounted a skeletal tower was on the old concrete pier.
  • The lens was moved to the Racine County Historical Museum.
Entered by:
tomtag
Entered Date:
Sep 16, 2017