Pilot Island Light

Pilot Island Light

Location	Gills Rock, Wisconsin
Year first lit	1858
Automated	1962
Foundation	Concrete
Construction	Milwaukee Cream City brick[1]
Tower shape	Square
Markings / pattern	yellow, black lantern and parapet
Height	Tower - 41 feet (12 m)[2]
Focal height	Focal plane - 48 feet (15 m)[3]{{{focalheight}}}
Original lens	Fourth order Fresnel lens
Range	12 statute miles (19 km)
Characteristic	White, Flashing (2), 6 sec[4]
ARLHS number	USA-600[5][6]
USCG number	7-21325
Pilot Island Light
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
USCG archive photo
Nearest city	Gills Rock, Wisconsin
Coordinates	45°17′3.8″N 86°55′10.5″W / 45.284389°N 86.919583°W / 45.284389; -86.919583Coordinates: 45°17′3.8″N 86°55′10.5″W / 45.284389°N 86.919583°W / 45.284389; -86.919583
Area	3.5 acres (1.4 ha)
Built	1858
Governing body	DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
NRHP Reference #	83004279[7]
Added to NRHP	November 21, 1983

The Pilot Island lighthouse is a lighthouse located near Gills Rock, on Pilot Island at the east end of Death's Door passage, in Door County, Wisconsin.

The building's plant is similar to Pottawatomie Light, but this is brick instead of stone. Until 1910 it was called Port des Morts Island Light. The original fog signal building was converted to a second assistant lighthouse keeper's residence in 1900.^[8]

History

Frequent and oppressive fog made the passage hazardous; and also made duty at the light to be considered a hardship in an extremely lonely and forbidding place.^[9] A fog bell signal was installed in 1862. In 1864 it was replaced by a foghorn. In 1875 it was converted to a steam powered fog siren. In 1880 a separate fog building was built for a "duplicate" fog siren. This began a ten inch steam whistle and new building in 1900 (which still exists near water's edge).^[10] In 1904, there came a realization that the whistles were "less than effective' and they were replaced by dual diaphones.^[1] The horns made living there difficult; fertilized eggs would be destroyed by the sounds.^[9]

Nearby Plum Island and this island are two of four Wisconsin properties turned over in recent years by the U.S. Coast Guard to the United States Bureau of Land Management. The BLM is working to find new qualified owners, who would be required to care for the properties. The Coast Guard and BLM require the new stewards to maintain the buildings.^[11]

It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 as the Pilot Island Light, reference #83004279.^[8]

It is currently "abandoned, overgrown, and overrun" by a large cormorant population.^[12]

"Detail of NOAA Chart #14909"

Getting there

This Lighthouse can be seen at a distance from the Northport-Washington Island ferry. Excursions that go near the island are offered during an annual Door County Lighthouse Walk sponsored by the Door County Maritime Museum, and by Shoreline Resort in Gills Rock, Wisconsin.^[13]

The lighthouse is owned by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The grounds, dwelling and tower are closed.

Notes

External links

• Door County Lighthouses, Door County Marine Museum.
• NPS Inventory of Historic Light Stations - Wisconsin
• "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Wisconsin". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. 

Specialized Additional reading

Further reading

v t e Lighthouses of Wisconsin See also: List of lighthouses in Wisconsin Lake Superior Apostle Islands Ashland Harbor Breakwater Chequamegon Point Devils Island Gull Island La Pointe Michigan Island Outer Island Raspberry Island Sand Island Wisconsin Point Lake Michigan Algoma Pierhead Baileys Harbor Baileys Harbor Range Boyer Bluff Cana Island Chambers Island Eagle Bluff Grassy Island Range Green Bay Harbor Entrance Kenosha North Pier Kenosha Kewaunee Pierhead Kevich Manitowoc Breakwater Milwaukee Breakwater Milwaukee Pierhead North Point Peshtigo Reef Pilot Island Plum Island Range Port Washington Breakwater Pottawatomie Rawley Point Sheboygan Sherwood Point Sturgeon Bay Canal Sturgeon Bay Canal North Pierhead Two Rivers Wind Point Lake Winnebago Asylum Calumet Fond du Lac Kimberly Point Rockwell Historical (lost) lights Dunlap Reef Range Front Manitowoc Main Manitowoc North Pierhead Plum Island Range Front Racine North Pierhead Racine Reef Light