Pottawatomie Lighthouse (Rock Island Lighthouse), Rock Island, Lake Michigan, Door County, Wisconsin
Built in 1836.
POTTAWATOMIE (ROCK ISLAND) LIGHT
Location: GREEN BAY ENTRANCE/LAKE MICHIGAN
Station Established: 1837
Year Current Tower(s) First Lit: 1858
Operational? NO
Automated? YES 1966
Deactivated:
Foundation Materials: STONE
Construction Materials: LIMESTONE
Tower Shape: SQUARE W/OUT LANTERN
Markings/Pattern: NATURAL
Relationship to Other Structure: INTEGRAL
Original Lens:
HISTORICAL INFORMATION:
- In 1834 money was allocated to build a light on this island to mark the Rock Island Passage which ran from Green Bay to Detroit.
- The light was first lit in 1837.
- In 1858 the tower and keepers house were condemned and a new light tower and keeper’s house were built.
- In 1964 the island became part of the State Park system.
- In 1966 the light was automated.
- In 1975 the light was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
- In 1986 solar panels were installed to provide power.
- In 1988 the light was removed from the 1858 house and placed on a steel skeletal tower.
- In 1994 the Friends of Rock Island group was formed to help restore the historic structures on the Island.
- In 1999 the lantern was rebuilt on the 1858 structure.
- In 2004 the Friends group furnished the light with period furniture and open the structure to the public.
Researched and written by Anne Puppa, a volunteer through the Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Lighthouse Society.