North Point Light

{{About|the lighthouse in Milwaukee, Wisconsin|the lighthouse in Queensland, Australia|North Point Hummock Light|the lighthouse in Prince Edward Island, Canada|North Cape Light}} {{Use American English|date=September 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox lighthouse | name = North Point Lighthouse Museum | image = North Point Lighthouse.jpg | caption = North Point Lighthouse in Lake Park | location = Milwaukee, Wisconsin | coordinates = {{coord|43|03|56|N|87|52|17|W|region:US_type:landmark|display=inline,title}} | yearlit = 1888 | automated = | yeardeactivated = 1994 | foundation = Concrete | construction = Cast Iron (1888) / Steel (1912) | shape = Octagonal | height = {{convert|74|ft}} | lens = Fourth order Fresnel lens | range = | characteristic = | module = {{Infobox NRHP|embed=yes | name = North Point Lighthouse Museum | nrhp_type = | image = | caption = | built = {{Start date|1888}} | architect OR builder = | added = July 19, 1984 | area = {{convert|2|acre}} | mpsub = [https://npgallery.nps.gov/pdfhost/docs/NRHP/Text/64000182.pdf U.S. Coast Guard Lighthouses and Light Stations on the Great Lakes TR] | refnum = 84003732<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2013a}}</ref> }} }} {{listen|filename=NPLighthouse.ogg|type=speech|title=The North Point Lighthouse|description=An audio description of the lighthouse and its history}}

The '''North Point Lighthouse Museum''' is a lighthouse built in 1888 in Lake Park on the East Side of Milwaukee in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States to mark the entrance to the Milwaukee River. The lighthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.<ref>{{cite web|title=North Point Lighthouse|date=January 2012 |url=https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/NationalRegister/NR1351|publisher=Wisconsin Historical Society|accessdate=2020-01-20}}</ref><ref name="nris"/> It was also added to the Library of Congress Historic American Buildings Survey as survey HABS WI-358.

==History== The first lighthouse on this bluff was built in 1855, a structure of Cream City brick with a cast iron lantern room, sited high to make it visible out on Lake Michigan. In the late 1880s it was jeopardized by erosion of the bluff and plans were made to replace it.<ref name=nrhpdoc>{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=84003732}}|title=HAER Inventory: North Point Lighthouse|publisher=Department of the Interior|author=Charles K. Hyde|date=1979-07-09|accessdate=2020-01-20}}</ref>

In 1888 a 40-foot cast-iron lighthouse tower was built 100 feet in from the edge of the bluff, and the Queen Anne-style light keeper's quarters was built. The original 1855 lantern room was used on the new 1888 tower. Eventually trees in the park obstructed the light from the view of ships, so in 1912 the tower was dismantled and a riveted steel addition was erected and the original 1888 section was placed on top raising its height to {{convert|74|ft}}<ref name=nrhpdoc/> and light focal plane to {{convert|154|ft}}. Today, it is the only lighthouse in the country built of three separate lighthouses: the 1855, 1888, and 1912 ones.

The first 1888 lantern burned mineral oil. It was converted to coal gas in 1912 and electrified in 1929. The lens focused a 1,300,000 candlepower signal visible for {{convert|25|mi}}.<ref>United States Coast Guard, Milwaukee County Historical Society, sign by lighthouse</ref> The Coast Guard decommissioned the lighthouse in 1994. In 2003 Milwaukee County leased the lighthouse and keepers quarters to the North Point Lighthouse Friends and they began restoration of the tower and keepers quarters. A $984,000 grant was used to restore the light station and it re-opened to the public as a maritime museum in 2007.<ref>{{cite rowlett|wi}}</ref>

<gallery mode=packed heights=105> File:North Point Light Station exterior.jpg | 2012 photo File:North Point Light Station stairs.jpg | Stairs to tower File:North Point Light Station and plaque 2012.jpg | Plaque File:USCGnorthpointlight.JPG| USCG archive photo File:North Point Lighthouse, Milwaukee, Wisconsin - Aerial View.jpg | 2016 Aerial View File:Lake Park July 2022 07 (North Point Lighthouse).jpg| 2022 photo </gallery>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== {{Refbegin}} * 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}}. * {{cite web|url=http://www.terrypepper.com/lights/index.htm |author=Pepper, Terry|title=''Seeing the Light: Lighthouses on the western Great Lakes''}} * Sapulski, Wayne S., (2001) ''Lighthouses of Lake Michigan: Past and Present'' (Paperback) (Fowlerville: Wilderness Adventure Books) {{ISBN|0-923568-47-6}}; {{ISBN|978-0-923568-47-4}}. * Wright, Larry and Wright, Patricia, ''Great Lakes Lighthouses Encyclopedia'' Hardback (Erin: Boston Mills Press, 2006) {{ISBN|1-55046-399-3}}. {{Refend}}

==External links== {{Commons category|North Point light}} *[http://www.northpointlighthouse.org/ North Point Lighthouse Friends, Inc.] *[http://www.terrypepper.com/lights/michigan/northpoint/northpoint.htm Seeing the light] *[http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=245 Lighthouse friends article] *[http://www.cr.nps.gov/maritime/light/northpt.htm NPS Inventory of Historic Light Stations - Wisconsin] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060209171510/http://www.cr.nps.gov/maritime/light/northpt.htm |date=2006-02-09 }} *[http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.wi0665 Library of Congress Historic American Buildings Survey] Survey number HABS WI-358 *{{cite uscghist|WI}} North Point Light.

Category:Lighthouses completed in 1888 Category:Houses completed in 1888 Category:Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin Category:Tourist attractions in Milwaukee Category:National Register of Historic Places in Milwaukee Category:Lighthouses of Lake Michigan Category:Transportation in Milwaukee Category:1888 establishments in Wisconsin