Plum Island Range Lights
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Plum Island Range Lights | |
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Front range light (with rear in back) |
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Location: | Plum Island, Wisconsin |
Coordinates WGS-84 (GPS) |
Front range Light |
Year first lit: | 1964 |
Automated: | 1964 |
Construction: | Steel |
Tower shape: | Skeletal |
Characteristic: | Red, Isophase 6 sec. Directional, bearing 330.5° |
Plum Island Range Lights | |
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Rear range light with house |
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Location: | Plum Island, Wisconsin |
Coordinates WGS-84 (GPS) |
Rear range light |
Year first lit: | 1897 |
Automated: | c. 1969 |
Foundation: | Concrete |
Construction: | Iron |
Tower shape: | Skeletal |
Height: | 65 feet (20 m) |
Original lens: | Fourth order Fresnel lens |
Characteristic: | Flashing Red |
The Plum Island Range Lights are a pair of lighthouses located on Plum Island in Door County, Wisconsin.
The range lights were originally lit in 1897 and are 1,650 feet apart, aligned on a 330° bearing line to guide boats safely into the Porte des Morts Passage. The Plum Island front range light was originally identical to the front range light of the Baileys Harbor Range Lights, but was replaced by a modern skeletal light in 1964. The rear range light is the original tower and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984, as the Plum Island Range Rear Light, reference number #84003659. The rear range light is also omnidirectional.
According to US Government publication, "The American Practical Navigator", Chapter 5: Range lights are light pairs that indicate a specific line of position when they are in line. The higher rear light is placed behind the front light. When the mariner sees the lights vertically in line, he is on the range line. If the front light appears left of the rear light, the observer is to the right of the range line; if the front appears to the right of the rear, the observer is left of the range line.[1]
[edit] External links
- Seeing the Light Article
- Lighthouse friends article
- NPS Inventory of Historic Light Stations - Wisconsin
- Volume 7, USCG Lightlist (PDF)
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