Raspberry Island Light

Raspberry Island Light

Location	Raspberry Island, Wisconsin
Coordinates	46°58′14″N 90°48′18″W / 46.97056°N 90.80500°W / 46.97056; -90.80500Coordinates: 46°58′14″N 90°48′18″W / 46.97056°N 90.80500°W / 46.97056; -90.80500
Year first lit	1863
Automated	1947
Foundation	Stone
Construction	Wood
Tower shape	Square, attached white bldg. w/red roof
Markings / pattern	white w/black trim & lantern
Height	43 feet (13 m)
Focal height	77 feet (23 m)[1]{{{focalheight}}}
Original lens	Fifth order Fresnel lens
Range	16 miles (26 km)[2]
Characteristic	Fl W 2.5s
ARLHS number	USA-688
USCG number	7-15555

The original lens is on display at the Madeline Island Historical Museum.

The Raspberry Island Lighthouse is a lighthouse located on the southern part of Raspberry Island, marking the west channel of the Apostle Islands in Lake Superior in Bayfield County, Wisconsin, near the city of Bayfield. It was erected in 1862, marking the western channel.

History

It is said to be "one of the few surviving wood framed lighthouses left on Lake Superior. The complex includes a square tower rising up from the attached Lighthouse keeper's quarters, a brick fog signal building, frame barn, brick oil house, boathouse, two outhouses, and a dock.^[3]

The light was automated in 1947 and was later transferred to the National Park Service as part of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977, part of reference number 77000145. Listed in the Library of Congress Historic American Buildings Survey, WI-312. The original Fresnel lens is on display at the Madeline Island Historical Museum.

The old battery system in the fog signal building was replaced by a solar powered 300 mm Tideland Signal acrylic optic atop a pole, which continues to light the island to this day.^[4] The location is an active aid to navigation, with a characteristic white flash every 2.5 seconds.^[5]

Getting there

Most of the Apostle Islands light stations may be viewed (but not accessed) on the Apostle Islands Cruise Service water taxi or by private boat during the summer.^[6] During the Annual Apostle Island Lighthouse Celebration^[7] Ferry tour service is available for all the lighthouses. In the tourist season, park rangers are on the island to greet visitors.^[8]

See also

• Apostle Islands Lighthouses

References

Further reading

• Havighurst, Walter (1943) The Long Ships Passing: The Story of the Great Lakes, Macmillan Publishers.
• Oleszewski, Wes, Great Lakes Lighthouses, American and Canadian: A Comprehensive Directory/Guide to Great Lakes Lighthouses, (Gwinn, Michigan: Avery Color Studios, Inc., 1998) ISBN 0-932212-98-0.
• Pepper, Terry. "Seeing the Light: Lighthouses on the western Great Lakes". 
• Wright, Larry and Wright, Patricia, Great Lakes Lighthouses Encyclopedia Hardback (Erin: Boston Mills Press, 2006) ISBN 1-55046-399-3.

USCG archive photo

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Raspberry Island Light Station.

1940s overview of the Raspberry Island Light Station

Raspberry Island Light Station from Lake Superior

• Aerial photos of Raspberry Island Light, Marina.com.
• Library of Congress Historic American Buildings Survey Survey number HABS WI-312
• Madeline Island Historical Museum
• Lighthouse friends, Raspberry Island Light article.
• National Park Service Maritime History Project, Inventory of Historic Light Stations - Wisconsin - Raspberry Island Light Station.
• Light List, Volume VII, Great Lakes (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard. 
• "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Wisconsin". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. 

v t e Apostle Islands Islands Madeline Island Stockton Island Gull Island Eagle Island Outer Island Oak Island Sand Island Basswood Island Bear Island Michigan Island Hermit Island Cat Island Otter Island Manitou Island Rocky Island Long Island Ironwood Island York Island Raspberry Island Devils Island South Twin Island North Twin Island Lighthouses Michigan Island Light Raspberry Island Light Outer Island Light Sand Island Light Devils Island Light Gull Island Light La Pointe Light Chequamegon Point Light Ashland Harbor Breakwater Light Shipwrecks Big Bay sloop City of Ashland Lucerne Marquette Moonlight Noquebay Ottawa Pretoria R.G. Stewart Sevona T.H. Camp Related Historical Sites Hadland Fishing Camp Bass Island Brownstone Company Quarry La Pointe Indian Cemetery Manitou Camp Rocky Island Historic District Madeline Island Historical Museum Protected Designation Apostle Islands National Lakeshore

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