Green Island Light, Green Island, Green Bay, Wisconsin
GREEN ISLAND LIGHT
Location: On Green Island in Green Bay off of Marinette, five miles southeast of the mouth of the Menominee River.
Station Established: 1863
Year Current Tower(s) First Lit: 1863
Operational? NO
Automated? 1933
Deactivated: Abandoned, destroyed by fire.
Original Lens: Fourth Order Fresnel
HISTORICAL INFORMATION:
- In 1859 funds were appropriated to build a lighthouse on or near Green Island. The following year the state of Wisconsin seized the land on which the light was to be built.
- In October of 1863 the light was first lit. The tower contained a fourth order Fresnel lens and the signal was a fixed-white light
- In 1864 the light was damaged by fire and a temporary structure was erected.
- In 1876 a new crib and land pier was built to make off-loading supplies easier.
- In 1883 lake levels had dropped and the boathouse was moved closer to the water.
- In 1893 the water levels had dropped so much that the well went dry and a new one had to be dug.
- In 1902 the boat house was damaged in a storm by ice and had to be re-built.
- In 1933 the light was automated.
- In 1956 a steel skeletal tower was erected and is what is in use today.
- In 1957 the island became privately owned.
Researched and written by Anne Puppa, a volunteer through the Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Lighthouse Society.