Rawley Point Lighthouse, Point Beach State Forest, Two Rivers, Manitowoc County, Wisconsin
Built in 1894.
RAWLEY POINT (TWIN RIVER POINT) LIGHT
Location: WEST SHORE LAKE MICHIGAN
Station Established: 1853
Year Current Tower(s) First Lit: 1894
Operational? YES
Automated? YES 1979
Deactivated: N/A
Foundation Materials:
Construction Materials: CAST IRON
Tower Shape: SKELETAL
Markings/Pattern: WHITE W/BLACK TRIM
Relationship to Other Structure: SEPARATE
Original Lens: THIRD ORDER, FRESNEL
HISTORICAL INFORMATION:
- The first markers for the dangerous shoals at Rawley point were a set of four pole lights.
- In 1853 a wooden lighthouse was built to replace the pole lights.
- In 1873 the wooden light was replaced because it had been poorly placed to warn ships off the shoals. It was replaced by a brick light tower and keepers house.
- In 1894 this light was replaced by yet a third light. The replacement had been displayed at the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago and represented the newest technology of the time. It houses a third-order Fresnel lens.
- In 1920 the light was electrified.
- In 1952 the damaged Fresnel lens was replaced.
- In 1975 the light was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
- In 1979 the light was automated.
Researched and written by Anne Puppa, a volunteer through the Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Lighthouse Society.