Third in a Series
Grassy Island Range Lights, Bay of Green Bay
By Ken and Barb Wardius
In its long and storied maritime history, Wisconsin shorelines have been graced by forty-eight lighthouses. From Lake Superior to Lake Michigan and inland Lake Winnebago, lighthouses are an integral part of our heritage. No symbol is more synonymous with the Great Lakes’ rich nautical past than the lighthouse. For more than a century, they provided a measure of safety for mariners plying these inland seas. The Badger State has the second highest number of lighthouses on the Great Lakes, behind Michigan, which reigns as the champion with well over one hundred beacons.
Like most lighthouses throughout the world, those in Wisconsin were built primarily to guide ships to specific cities or towns, while others identified hazardous shoals, reefs and shallows. These historic beacons have saved countless sailors, ships and cargo.
The tales of these structures are less about the dates they were constructed or their heights, but more about the innumerable years of service provided by dedicated lighthouse keepers and their families. Great Lakes mariners relied on these folks “keeping the light” to afford them safe harbor. Wisconsin’s lighthouses blazed a trail through the darkness and played a tremendous role in shaping our diverse state. Wisconsin attracted European settlers and the maritime trade that became the backbone of local economies. Water-borne commerce, the thread that weaves through the entire Great Lakes region, was the lifeblood of early Wisconsin. Lighthouses were essential in this process.
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Second largest of the Great Lakes by volume, Lake Michigan is the only Great Lake located entirely within the borders of the United States and is the sixth largest freshwater lake in the world. It possesses the majority of Wisconsin’s lighthouses, numbering thirty-four.
Bay of Green Bay
The bay is a 120 mile long arm of Lake Michigan, separated from the rest of the lake to the east by Wisconsin’s “thumb”, Door County. In the 1800s the port of Green Bay was one of the busiest on the Great Lakes. Lighthouses were instrumental in this commerce.
Five of Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan lighthouses are found out in the bay, all of them either on islands or on human made structures in the bay. From north to south the lighthouses are: Green Island ruins, Peshtigo Reef, Green Bay Harbor Entrance, Long Tail Point ruins (Wisconsin’s oldest surviving tower, built in 1848), and the Grassy Island Range Lights.
The Grassy Island Range Lights, built in 1872, were necessary to navigate a safe passage through the oftentimes varying depths of the bay. Destined for demolition in the 1960s, forward thinking local volunteers eventually found a permanent home for the lighthouses on the waterfront grounds of the Green Bay Yacht Club. Magnificently restored, the Grassy Island Range Lights are an example of lighthouse preservation at its best.
Photo: Grassy Island Range Lights Credit: Ken and Barb Wardius
Ken and Barb Wardius talk about lighthouses on Wisconsin Public Radio.
Ken and Barb Wardius are the authors of Wisconsin Lighthouses, A Photographic & Historical Guide. They have also written books on the Cana Island Lighthouse, the Wind Point Lighthouse and the North Point Milwaukee Lighthouse. They live in Glendale, Wisconsin, and are members of the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society. Their website is www.gowisconsinlighthouses.com
