by Carl Eisenberg
Baileys Harbor sits on the East shore of Door County, Wisconsin. In 1848, Captain Justice Bailey sought refuge from a storm in what was to become Baileys Harbor. While there he explored the area he collected samples of wood and limestone for his boss Alanson Sweet in Milwaukee. Sweet decided to develop the area and purchased 125 acres of nearby land.
In 1849, Alanson Sweet’s crew built a settlement, pier, sawmill, and collected limestone from a quarry. They started a road that is now County Road F. However, because of reefs in the area, ships found it difficult to enter Baileys Harbor. Congress agreed to build a lighthouse on the eastern shore of the harbor and Sweet was awarded the contract.
An island, now Lighthouse Island, was purchased in November 1851 and construction of the Baileys Harbor Lighthouse began in 1852. It had a birdcage lantern and was initially equipped with a sixth-order Fresnel lens which was upgraded to a fifth-order lens in 1858. The lighthouse began operation in 1853 and ended its service on Dec. 1, 1869. Although this lighthouse did mark the entrance to the harbor, it didn’t serve as an effective guide for vessels sailing through the reefs. In 1867 the Lighthouse Board proposed a new lighthouse on Cana Island with range lights to be constructed on land at the head of the harbor. These lights began service in early 1870. These Range Lights are now part of The Ridges Sanctuary which formed in 1937.
Alanson Sweet was born in Owasco, N.Y., in 1804. He moved to Milwaukee in 1835 and became a farmer. He left Milwaukee in the 1860’s for Kansas and eventually to Evanston, IL, where he died. While in Wisconsin, he became involved in politics as a Democrat joining the Milwaukee Claimants’ Union and was a member of the territorial upper house (1836-1838) and a Milwaukee alderman (1848-1849). He was involved with plank road and railroad projects and was a pioneer in the Milwaukee grain trade. He succeeded in having Door County created in 1851 with Baileys Harbor serving as its county seat but no business was ever transacted there. Mr. Sweet had financial difficulties and the settlement was abandoned several years later.
Thomas Kersten Toft worked at the quarry that was reopened in 1868. Quarrying operations ended in 1882 when the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal had opened and quarrying efforts there after moved to Sturgeon Bay for economical reasons. He worked for a Michigan company that gave him a house and land in exchange for back wages. Toft Point is named for him.
Eventually, Sturgeon Bay became the county seat. The Baileys Harbor area again became active and by 1869, settlers of many nationalities arrived including people of Irish, Polish, English, German, and Scandinavian descent. At this time large quantities of wood were leaving Baileys Harbor for various lake ports, including Milwaukee and Chicago.
The Cana Island Lighthouse, when built in 1869, was at eighty-six-feet tall the tallest building in Door County. It sits on a nine acre island connected to the shore by a five-hundred-foot-long limestone causeway that, depending upon water levels, can be underwater. The lighthouse and tower are open 9 AM to 5 PM May through October. There is a fee to access the island that includes admission to the lighthouse. There is an additional fee to climb the lighthouse. A third-order Fresnel lens is still in use. It is about five feet tall and its light can be seen from 17 miles away. Various fuels have been used over the years including lard oil, whale oil, kerosene, acetylene, and a naphtha formula. It was automated in 1944 and now is illuminated by four rotating bulbs.
The Ridges Sanctuary includes a diverse ecosystem and its ridges were formed by movements of Lake Michigan. The Ridges Interpretive Center is open year round. There are six distinct areas in the Sanctuary where there are frogs, different bird species, Monarch butterflies, orchids, and Hine’s Emerald dragonflies which may be seen along with wildflowers and various tree species. There are some covered boardwalks, and well-marked, easy to follow trails. Some trails are open in the winter for snowshoeing. Trails are open 9 to 5 during peak season. There is a $5 trail fee for those 18 and older; children and Ridges members may use the trails for free. Originally, there was a plan to fill in the swales between the ridges, but local people, scientists, and environmentalists established the Ridges Sanctuary organization which now protects over 1600 acres.
The Baileys Harbor Range Lights are in this Sanctuary. The Upper Range Light displays a white light and the Lower Range Light is 950 feet lower, that is, closer to Lake Michigan, and displays a red light. Sailors have to keep the white light above the red light to safely enter the harbor and avoid the reefs.
Photo at top of page: The Beacon at Baileys Harbor Marker. Photo by Carl Eisenberg.
Other photo:
References:
Wardius, Ken and Barb, Wisconsin Lighthouses, A Photographic & Historical Guide, Prairie Oak Press, c. 2000, pp. 67-74
History of Baileys Harbor Range Lights: http://www.ridgessanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/History-of-the-Baileys-Harbor-Range-Lights.pdf
Ridges article about the Range Lights: https://www.ridgessanctuary.org/visit-us/range-lights/
Alanson Sweet, Historical Essay, Wisconsin Historical Society: https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS13529
Annual Report of the Lighthouse Board, various years.
Keepers of the Lights, Steven Karges, 2000.
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Carl Eisenberg is a sailor and birdwatcher, and has been president of the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society since 2016. A retired pediatrician, he is a graduate of Duke University School of Medicine. He lives in Mequon, Wis.
