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cc
>> Today we are pleased to

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introduce Ken and Barb Wardius
as part of the Wisconsin

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Historical Museum's History
Sandwiched In lecture series.

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The opinions expressed today are
those of the presenters and

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not necessarily those of the
Wisconsin Historical Society or

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the museum's employees.
Lifelong residents of Milwaukee,

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Ken and Barb Wardius travel
nationally to pursue their

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hobbies of photography, history,
and lighthouses, which first

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drew their interests at
arrest.

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Door County's picturesque
Cana Island.

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Here today to share with photos
and stories from their book

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Wisconsin Lighthouses,
please join me in welcoming

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Ken and Barb Wardius.
[APPLAUSE]

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>> Thank you, Katie.
Good afternoon, everybody.

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Good afternoon, everybody.
Thank you for joining us on a

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rather blustery lighthousy
day, but we thank everybody for

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coming.
We thank the museum for inviting

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us this afternoon.
What you're going to see in the

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next 30-40 minutes or so is a
compilation of photography and

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research that Barb and I have
done over 20-plus years.

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Our book is floating around here
somewhere.

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This is a totally, thank you,
totally revised edition of a

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book that we published in the
year 2000.

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So it needed some updating.
A lot of things have changed

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with lighthouses.
We'll touch on that in the

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program.
What you're going to see on the

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screen as well as in the new
book is completely new color

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photography.
We updated some history,

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we corrected a few errors in the
original book, and most

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importantly we teamed up with
the Wisconsin Historical Society

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Press.
They are our publishers, and

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they also, as you probably know,
have these wonderful archives of

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old historic photos.
They are sprinkled throughout

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the book, really changed the
entire book.

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We're going to start the program
with some music; we're going to

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end it with some music.
In between, Barb and I will be

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narrating live.
There's 48 lighthouses

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in Wisconsin.
There's no way we're going to

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cover all of those in 30
minutes, but we'll give you a

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good slice of what the state has
to offer.

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If all the technology works,
we'll be good.

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So let's take a journey
to Wisconsin's lighthouses.

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thought.
>> As Ken and I did our research

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>> As Ken and I did our research
and photography for the book,

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we crisscrossed the state of
Wisconsin many times in order to

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get the perfect shot.
Some places, only one time

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had to do, and, luckily, we were
able to get some great pictures.

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We'll begin our tour this
afternoon on Lake Superior, the

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largest freshwater lake in the
world.

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There are actually 10
lighthouses found in this area

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of our state.
Some of the most beautiful

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scenery is also found here, and
with the opening of the

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Soo Locks in 1855, this portion
of Wisconsin was the very last

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to be settled.
>> The first lighthouse we'll

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discuss today appropriately
has Wisconsin in the title.

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This the Wisconsin Point Light.
It dates back to 1913.

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It's outside the city of
Superior.

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It's on a long, rocky
breakwater, as you can see.

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This is our daughter Sara.
We did a lot of lighthouse trips

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as a family.
She was a teenager in this

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photo, and we have documented
her smiling at a lighthouse.

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[LAUGHTER]
Any parents in the audience

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probably realize going
lighthouses with mom and dad is

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not near the top of their list.
[LAUGHTER]

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But she's smiling.
>> She survived and so did we.

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[LAUGHTER]
>> Most lighthouses,

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not only on the Great Lakes but
throughout the world, were built

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in response to commerce.
Historically, wooden ships would

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have plied the Great Lakes and
ports of the world.

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Today, modern tankers still come
and go from the Duluth-Superior

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harbor.
One thing we learned, a little

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bit of trivia if you will, about
Wisconsin Point, Duluth-Superior

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community.
is a very active port even

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today.
In November of 1975, the giant

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ore carrier Edmund Fitzgerald
left Duluth-Superior bound for

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the eastern end of Lake Superior
and the city of Detroit.

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Little did the 29 men aboard the
big Fitz know that in less than

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two days they would pass by
Wisconsin Point on the way out

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to Lake Superior, in less than
two days they would all perish

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in the terrible November storm.
>> And when we do our

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photography, we like to go at
different times of the day to

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add interest to our work.
One of our favorite times is

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sunrise, which means you've
gotten there ahead of the

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sunrise.
It means you've gotten set up on

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the beach, in the wrong place
many times.

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This morning was not different.
We were in the wrong place.

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I said we were in the wrong
place.

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Ken said no, no, we're fine.
So we picked up, ran down the

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beach, had about a minute to
take this picture, and then the

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sun went behind that huge cloud
bank and sunrise was over for

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the day.
One time.

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Very, very lucky.
>> There were a number of those

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things that happened along the
way that we were blessed with.

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We're going to move on now from
Superior to the northeast.

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All the little green structures
you see there are lighthouses in

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an area called the Apostle
Islands National Lakeshore.

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It's a national park, and there
are more lighthouses in this

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national park than any other.
If you've ever been to Bayfield,

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chances are you know that it is
a very beautiful area.

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People come for rest, relaxation
to see the sea caves and also to

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visit lighthouses by boat.
>> By boat.

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The only way to get there is by
boat.

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This is the Sand Island Light
built here in 1881.

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It's just a gingerbread house in
my mind.

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It's just a beautiful little
lighthouse.

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And much of the history of this
light comes to us courtesy of

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the Luick family.
Ella and Emmanuel Luick were a

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very hardworking lighthouse
couple, but you might think

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since they were on an island
that they were isolated.

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Just the opposite
on Sand Island.

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There was a fishing village
there as well as some other

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people that actually lived on
the island year-round with them.

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So they were able to socialize.
>> By the way, these two photos

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are an example of what I was
saying before about the

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Historical Society's archives.
Both of these are from there.

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They're priceless.
>> And here she is again.

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At any given day you might ask
me what my favorite lighthouse

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is.
As of this moment, it's this

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one.
As the program goes along, it'll

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be a different one.
I love them all.

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>> Many of you know the levels
on the Great Lakes over the last

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decade or so are below normal.
We rented what was called a

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water taxi, and the captain
usually would tie up very close

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to Sand Island but there's a lot
of exposed rocks now.

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So he put us in this, we
affectionately called it our

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little yellow banana boat.
Sara's in the front with me.

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She's laughing.
She knows we're not the most

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graceful people on these
kind of vessels.

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The boat captain said get as
close to the island as you can,

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jump out, there'll be a path,
and you'll meet a docent at the

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lighthouse.
Take your pictures, learn some

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history.
You've probably heard stories

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about how cold Lake Superior
water is.

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This is a relatively shallow
bay.

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We were only a foot or two deep
when we hopped out.

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Middle of the summertime,
freezing cold.

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Absolutely true.
This is Mary Ann.

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She was the volunteer that
stayed at Sand Island for about

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a month.
We told her at the time we were

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researching history, we were
taking photographs.

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We said some day we're going to
write a book on Wisconsin

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lighthouses.
We eventually met her, just by

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chance, at a lighthouse
presentation years ago.

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We showed her the book.
It actually happened.

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If you live around the Great
Lakes, chances are you know that

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weather changes quickly.
We're at Sand Island in the

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morning, the weather changed
very fast.

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The forecast for the day was
fine.

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We ran into a summer storm
outside of Outer and Devil's

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Island and really should not
have been on the lake that day.

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>> Our boat captain assured us
the bottom of the boat was

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double hulled.
I didn't know what that meant,

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but I figured it was a good
thing and he was trying to be

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very reassuring.
So we hung on for dear life,

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said a few prayers, and made it
to our last landing which is

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this: the Michigan Island
Old Tower.

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This is the oldest light in the
Apostles.

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Built here in 1857.
Depending upon whom you believe,

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it was either built here by
mistake or somebody listened to

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the locals and said put it
there.

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Maybe they just misread the map.
I don't think they'll ever

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really know.
And we've been asked, did you

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take this from a hot air balloon
or an airplane?

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Actually, it's taken from a
widow's walk or a parapet of

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this next lighthouse.
>> Michigan Island actually has

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two lighthouses on it.
The one Barb just described is

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in the lower right-hand corner,
the Old Michigan Tower.

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Mariners were complaining they
couldn't see the light well

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enough at Michigan Island.
Eventually, the government,

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the federal government took a
lighthouse from the east coast

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of the US, disassembled it,
reassembled it on Michigan

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Island in 1929.
So it has the oldest and the

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newest light in the Apostles.
[LAUGHTER]

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>> Go figure.
>> Government does some, even

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back then did some different
things.

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[INAUDIBLE]
They did.

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They're both still there.
We were fortunate, well I don't

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know if fortunate is the right
word, we visited all eight

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Apostle Island lights in one
day.

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If you ever go to Bayfield,
don't do that.

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[LAUGHTER]
It was hectic.

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We ran into this storm, as I
mentioned.

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Sara sat at the base of the
tower here.

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There's a circular stairway of
134 steps to give you that grand

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view that Barb just described.
Sara said, I'll stay at the

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bottom, thank you, you guys go.
It was worth the view.

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Michigan Island, the new tower,
is the second tallest in

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Wisconsin.
110 feet.

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>> And we're going to leave
Lake Superior now and go to

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Lake Winnebago.
When we first began our

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research, we didn't think there
were any lighthouses on Lake

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Winnebago, and lo and behold,
there are actually four.

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And Lake Winnebago is very
important to commerce.

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It's part of the Fox and Wolf
River systems that were used for

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lumbering back in the day.
And even though the lake is very

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shallow, maybe 22 feet at its
deepest point, recreational

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boaters today still use the
lighthouses to guide them.

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00:11:20,814 --> 00:11:24,051
This is called
the Rockwell Light.

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It's built where Lake Winnebago
and the Fox River join.

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This is actually someone's
backyard.

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This is a privately owned
lighthouse.

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00:11:31,992 --> 00:11:34,995
History tells us that over the
years whoever owned the point,

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it became their point.
William Bray was one of the

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00:11:38,465 --> 00:11:40,801
first owners here, and he
transformed the entire point

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into a show place.
History tells us he entertained

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friends, colleagues, even
President William Howard Taft

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00:11:47,307 --> 00:11:51,411
came to lunch.
And this is another one of those

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00:11:51,478 --> 00:11:53,614
great shots that we were
provided with, an old archival

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postcard.
Today the owners still light the

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light and pay the taxes on this
light just as they did back in

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the day.
They are required to keep it lit

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at their own expense.
>> We're going to move on now

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from Lake Winnebago to part of
Lake Michigan actually known as

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the Bay of Green Bay.
As you can see from the map,

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there's a number of lights.
Some of them are on islands

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out in the bay.
A couple of them used to reside

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00:12:18,405 --> 00:12:21,975
there but now have been moved.
We'll touch on that briefly now

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as well as later.
>> This is another old archival

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photo of the Green Island Light,
which is located five miles

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offshore from Marinette and
Menominee.

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It doesn't look like this
anymore.

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00:12:35,489 --> 00:12:37,758
Samuel Drew was the first keeper
at Green Island.

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This is his son Frank.
The logbooks from the station

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tell us that Frank was born
under the light.

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Later he became chief keeper
here.

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We know for certain that he was
a chief keeper because he sports

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00:12:47,601 --> 00:12:50,304
K for keeper on his lapel, and
even the brass buttons have

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lighthouses on them.
>> Even after Frank Drew passed

229
00:12:54,942 --> 00:12:58,245
away, he could not get away from
lighthouses.

230
00:12:58,312 --> 00:13:00,647
This is his family's tombstone.
If you look at the top, there's

231
00:13:00,714 --> 00:13:03,283
an engraving.
This is actually very

232
00:13:03,350 --> 00:13:06,019
appropriate.
There were many, many families,

233
00:13:06,086 --> 00:13:11,325
spouses, husbands, wives,
daughters, brothers, uncles that

234
00:13:11,391 --> 00:13:13,894
were in the lighthouse business.
It was considered to be a very

235
00:13:13,961 --> 00:13:17,164
prestigious job.
When Frank Drew died, all the

236
00:13:17,231 --> 00:13:20,801
pallbearers were assistant
keepers and lighthouse keepers

237
00:13:20,868 --> 00:13:26,306
from the Great Lakes.
So, very hardworking families.

238
00:13:26,373 --> 00:13:30,611
We ran into a lady in Milwaukee
years ago, the young girl on the

239
00:13:30,677 --> 00:13:34,047
left.
Her father was a lighthouse

240
00:13:34,114 --> 00:13:37,551
keeper on Green Island and also
Cana Island in Door County.

241
00:13:37,618 --> 00:13:40,521
She came up to us after a
program and she said, my father

242
00:13:40,587 --> 00:13:43,290
was a lighthouse keeper, would
you like to talk to me, sit down

243
00:13:43,357 --> 00:13:46,126
with me sometime?
[LAUGHTER]

244
00:13:46,193 --> 00:13:49,563
>> Yes, please!
>> This is Virginia Drezdzon on

245
00:13:49,630 --> 00:13:53,367
the left and her sister June.
We just visited Virginia a

246
00:13:53,433 --> 00:13:57,237
couple of months ago.
She is a spry 90 years old.

247
00:13:57,304 --> 00:14:00,841
She and her family were
stationed at Green Island before

248
00:14:00,908 --> 00:14:03,877
its demise, which we'll touch on
next.

249
00:14:03,944 --> 00:14:06,547
This is, unfortunate, what Green
Island looks like today.

250
00:14:06,613 --> 00:14:09,082
Ultimately, the government
abandoned this lighthouse.

251
00:14:09,149 --> 00:14:12,686
It was boarded up.
Just the elements took charge.

252
00:14:12,753 --> 00:14:15,989
There was also vandalism and a
fire.

253
00:14:16,056 --> 00:14:19,092
It actually doesn't have as much
brickwork as it does in this

254
00:14:19,159 --> 00:14:22,396
photo.
There was still the need for a

255
00:14:22,462 --> 00:14:25,799
light on Green Island.
They don't call this a

256
00:14:25,866 --> 00:14:28,735
lighthouse.
It's a modern metal pole the

257
00:14:28,802 --> 00:14:32,506
Coast Guard erected years ago.
Certainly doesn't have the human

258
00:14:32,573 --> 00:14:36,043
stories and the history of the
traditional lighthouse.

259
00:14:36,109 --> 00:14:38,912
We're going to venture now to
the very southern end

260
00:14:38,979 --> 00:14:41,849
of Green Bay.
If you look at the bottom of the

261
00:14:41,915 --> 00:14:44,651
slide here, this is what
southern Green Bay looks like in

262
00:14:44,718 --> 00:14:46,854
the middle of the summertime.
It's where the bay gets its

263
00:14:46,920 --> 00:14:49,022
name.
Sorry, Packer fans, it doesn't

264
00:14:49,089 --> 00:14:52,059
get its name from...
[LAUGHTER]

265
00:14:52,125 --> 00:14:54,328
I'm a Packer fan.
It doesn't get the name from

266
00:14:54,394 --> 00:14:57,364
the football company.
This tower is, the locals still

267
00:14:57,431 --> 00:15:00,367
call it the Old Stone Tower.
It dates to when Wisconsin

268
00:15:00,434 --> 00:15:04,571
became a state, 1848.
It doesn't look like much, but

269
00:15:04,638 --> 00:15:07,774
it is the oldest original tower
that still stands in the state

270
00:15:07,841 --> 00:15:11,712
of Wisconsin.
It sits on the end of a sandbar.

271
00:15:11,778 --> 00:15:14,982
Very shallow water.
This area is called Tail Point,

272
00:15:15,048 --> 00:15:18,852
and the island is called
Long Tail Point.

273
00:15:21,088 --> 00:15:25,325
The bay level about 20 years
after Tail Point was erected,

274
00:15:25,392 --> 00:15:28,929
came up to the very base of the
tower, and the government feared

275
00:15:28,996 --> 00:15:31,698
that it actually was going to
topple into the bay.

276
00:15:31,765 --> 00:15:34,334
So what they did is they hired a
construction company with the

277
00:15:34,401 --> 00:15:37,437
tools of that time, the mid- to
late-1800s, and they were

278
00:15:37,504 --> 00:15:41,275
supposed to dismantle
the Old Stone Tower.

279
00:15:41,341 --> 00:15:45,212
You can see from the brickwork
here, the stones, that's a

280
00:15:45,279 --> 00:15:50,184
tougher job than they imagined.
Thankfully, they were not able

281
00:15:50,250 --> 00:15:53,587
to take the tower down.
This is what it looks like still

282
00:15:53,654 --> 00:15:56,823
today from the inside.
The circular stairway probably

283
00:15:56,890 --> 00:16:01,395
was in the area you see that
very large crack.

284
00:16:01,461 --> 00:16:04,531
I actually learned from some
descendants of lighthouse

285
00:16:04,598 --> 00:16:07,434
keepers at Tail Point that there
were three lighthouses there.

286
00:16:07,501 --> 00:16:11,772
This is the second one.
This gentleman, Andy Weber, and

287
00:16:11,839 --> 00:16:14,908
his family spent almost 30 years
in the lighthouse service.

288
00:16:14,975 --> 00:16:18,111
His daughter Adris is on the
left.

289
00:16:18,779 --> 00:16:22,015
She's pictured with a teenage
friend frolicking on the beach

290
00:16:22,082 --> 00:16:25,285
at Tail Point.
Tail Point now is completely

291
00:16:25,352 --> 00:16:28,722
overgrown, and it's just
wonderful to talk to the lady

292
00:16:28,789 --> 00:16:32,125
on the left of the right-hand
photo.

293
00:16:32,593 --> 00:16:35,395
We sat down with last year, gave
us all of her family photos, all

294
00:16:35,462 --> 00:16:38,732
of her family writings.
It's like, wow.

295
00:16:38,799 --> 00:16:41,168
People are so generous when it
comes to history, and lighthouse

296
00:16:41,235 --> 00:16:45,372
history in particular.
>> So by now you know we don't

297
00:16:45,439 --> 00:16:48,041
have a boat, so we have to
depend upon the kindness of

298
00:16:48,108 --> 00:16:50,444
strangers or rent a boat.
We contacted the Green Bay Yacht

299
00:16:50,511 --> 00:16:51,044
Club, and they said, well call
Merle.

300
00:16:51,111 --> 00:16:53,447
being here.
He has a boat.

301
00:16:53,847 --> 00:16:55,983
He likes to go out for fun.
Well, here's Merle's boat.

302
00:16:56,049 --> 00:16:58,585
It's a 40-foot yacht.
>> This is the way to go.

303
00:16:58,652 --> 00:17:00,587
>> This is the way to do your
tour of the Bay of Green Bay.

304
00:17:00,654 --> 00:17:03,056
Here I am working on the book.
[LAUGHTER]

305
00:17:03,123 --> 00:17:05,325
>> You are not.
>> I am too.

306
00:17:05,392 --> 00:17:07,461
>> You are not.
>> It was a lot of work, but it

307
00:17:07,528 --> 00:17:09,696
was a lot more fun.
We certainly met the nicest

308
00:17:09,763 --> 00:17:12,065
people along the way.
And now we're going to go to one

309
00:17:12,132 --> 00:17:14,668
of our favorite places.
This is Door County, and many of

310
00:17:14,735 --> 00:17:16,403
you know, history shows hundreds
of shipwrecks in the Door County

311
00:17:16,470 --> 00:17:18,872
area.
Just look at that rocky

312
00:17:18,939 --> 00:17:21,875
shoreline.
And Door County can claim one of

313
00:17:21,942 --> 00:17:25,045
the highest concentrations of
any county in the country.

314
00:17:25,112 --> 00:17:28,482
There are 11 lighthouses found
here, and that Door Peninsula is

315
00:17:28,549 --> 00:17:31,084
just that thumb-shaped piece of
land that stretches out into the

316
00:17:31,151 --> 00:17:34,621
lake.
>> We're going to journey now to

317
00:17:35,656 --> 00:17:37,858
one of the most difficult
lighthouses to get to in all of

318
00:17:37,925 --> 00:17:40,561
Wisconsin.
I should have kept the map up

319
00:17:40,627 --> 00:17:42,829
for a second.
It's actually on Rock Island,

320
00:17:42,896 --> 00:17:45,032
the Pottawatomie Light.
If you've ever been to Rock

321
00:17:45,098 --> 00:17:48,068
Island, chances are you've taken
a car ferry over.

322
00:17:48,135 --> 00:17:51,905
Perhaps you had another vessel.
You're going across here what's

323
00:17:51,972 --> 00:17:54,842
called the Death's Door Strait.
You'll pass Plum Island,

324
00:17:54,908 --> 00:17:57,110
Pilot Island.
They both have lighthouses.

325
00:17:57,177 --> 00:18:00,047
Eventually you'll get to
Washington Island.

326
00:18:00,113 --> 00:18:02,916
We hopped on what's called the
-- that day.

327
00:18:02,983 --> 00:18:04,985
If you've ever been to Rock
Island, chances are you've

328
00:18:05,052 --> 00:18:07,821
pulled up to this gorgeous
boathouse.

329
00:18:07,888 --> 00:18:10,157
We are still a mile and
a quarter away from the

330
00:18:10,224 --> 00:18:12,125
Pottawatomie Light.
Rock Island is a Wisconsin State

331
00:18:12,192 --> 00:18:15,295
Park.
There's no motorized vehicles on

332
00:18:15,362 --> 00:18:17,998
the island.
There's primitive camping.

333
00:18:18,065 --> 00:18:21,134
The ranger told us what path to
take.

334
00:18:21,201 --> 00:18:23,437
He said you'll go up and down
some paths, in and out of some

335
00:18:23,504 --> 00:18:25,706
woods, eventually you'll come to
a clearing.

336
00:18:25,772 --> 00:18:28,208
After about a half an hour I
thought, I think maybe we took

337
00:18:28,275 --> 00:18:31,612
the wrong spot, but lo and
behold we came to this clearing

338
00:18:31,678 --> 00:18:35,182
and found this rather
disappointing image of a

339
00:18:35,249 --> 00:18:38,619
lighthouse.
As you can see from the photo,

340
00:18:38,685 --> 00:18:40,087
it's missing something really
important if you're a

341
00:18:40,153 --> 00:18:42,489
lighthouse.
[LAUGHTER]

342
00:18:43,190 --> 00:18:45,225
This is Pottawatomie and how it
looked about 15 years ago.

343
00:18:45,292 --> 00:18:48,929
They actually took the lantern
off.

344
00:18:48,996 --> 00:18:53,767
It's completely better now.
This location, this same spot is

345
00:18:53,834 --> 00:18:59,339
the original oldest light in
Wisconsin, 1836, which actually

346
00:18:59,406 --> 00:19:01,909
Wisconsin wasn't even a state
there.

347
00:19:01,975 --> 00:19:04,278
The first Pottawatomie light had
faulty brickwork and mortar

348
00:19:04,344 --> 00:19:07,381
work.
They tore it down and the

349
00:19:07,447 --> 00:19:11,418
building that you see was placed
here in 1858.

350
00:19:11,485 --> 00:19:16,056
There is still a need for a
modern beacon on Rock Island.

351
00:19:16,123 --> 00:19:18,692
Rock Island used to be a very
important passage, historically,

352
00:19:18,759 --> 00:19:22,696
called the Rock Island passage,
but this modern metal tower

353
00:19:22,763 --> 00:19:26,667
certainly is not a lighthouse.
>> So, our first book was

354
00:19:26,733 --> 00:19:28,702
potentially.
supposed to go to press, and we

355
00:19:28,769 --> 00:19:31,138
didn't have a picture of the new
lantern room that was being

356
00:19:31,205 --> 00:19:33,841
restored, so we made a day trip
to Door County.

357
00:19:33,907 --> 00:19:35,475
This was back in the day when we
had paying jobs, and we had to

358
00:19:35,542 --> 00:19:36,076
do this.
Get up at 3:00 AM on a Friday or

359
00:19:36,143 --> 00:19:38,078
expedited way.
a Saturday and go up there, but

360
00:19:38,145 --> 00:19:41,481
quite expedited.
luckily for us, on that given

361
00:19:41,548 --> 00:19:44,585
day, the friends were on the
first boat with us, and of

362
00:19:44,651 --> 00:19:46,653
course they have a key for the
building, would we like to climb

363
00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:47,254
and see the new lantern?
Of course we would.

364
00:19:47,321 --> 00:19:50,991
lawsuit?
So it was a very, very good day.

365
00:19:51,725 --> 00:19:54,228
And this photo is more than
100 years old.

366
00:19:54,294 --> 00:19:56,129
This is a young man delivering
wood to the Pottawatomie

367
00:19:56,196 --> 00:19:59,867
Lighthouse.
>> There's a friends group

368
00:20:00,367 --> 00:20:04,204
associated with Rock Island
over the last decade,

369
00:20:04,271 --> 00:20:06,773
decade and a half.
One of their main goals was to

370
00:20:06,840 --> 00:20:09,076
refurbish and renovate
Pottawatomie, and they have done

371
00:20:09,142 --> 00:20:11,712
just that.
You saw that in the previous

372
00:20:11,778 --> 00:20:14,581
photo.
They have volunteers that are

373
00:20:14,648 --> 00:20:17,684
stationed at the lighthouse from
spring through fall.

374
00:20:17,751 --> 00:20:19,653
You conduct tours, you do
cleaning, you keep the place

375
00:20:19,720 --> 00:20:23,056
ready.
It gave us a real good sense of

376
00:20:23,824 --> 00:20:27,961
lighthouse keeping, say, a
century ago.

377
00:20:28,028 --> 00:20:32,399
Sometimes we have this idea that
the era of lighthouses was this

378
00:20:32,466 --> 00:20:37,738
grand, romantic nice time.
>> Don't you believe it.

379
00:20:37,804 --> 00:20:40,474
>> Tons of work.
Pottawatomie today does not have

380
00:20:40,541 --> 00:20:45,012
running hot water.
It does not have electricity.

381
00:20:45,078 --> 00:20:48,515
It does have a really new
composting toilet in the yard,

382
00:20:48,582 --> 00:20:51,318
which is a plus when you're
there for a week.

383
00:20:51,385 --> 00:20:54,321
But here's Barb looking at
probably some lighthouse book

384
00:20:54,388 --> 00:20:58,258
material by candlelight.
So it really gave us a nice

385
00:20:58,325 --> 00:21:00,427
appreciation for the hard work
that lighthouse families went

386
00:21:00,494 --> 00:21:04,298
through.
We're going to journey back now

387
00:21:05,699 --> 00:21:08,135
to the main Door Peninsula.
This is where Barb and my

388
00:21:08,202 --> 00:21:11,171
interest in lighthouses started.
More years than we admit,

389
00:21:11,238 --> 00:21:14,041
but about 40.
We had never been

390
00:21:14,441 --> 00:21:16,710
to Cana Island.
Some friends said, have you ever

391
00:21:16,777 --> 00:21:18,645
been to Cana Island Lighthouse?
You've got to go see it.

392
00:21:18,712 --> 00:21:21,048
So we did.
We fell in love with the place.

393
00:21:21,114 --> 00:21:24,017
Cana Island is kind of the close
your eyes, think of a

394
00:21:24,084 --> 00:21:27,821
lighthouse, and might not be too
far from this photo.

395
00:21:27,888 --> 00:21:30,724
It's the tall, classic, white
tower with the keeper's quarters

396
00:21:30,791 --> 00:21:34,361
right next to it.
It dates back to 1869.

397
00:21:35,229 --> 00:21:38,565
86-foot tall.
After about 30 years the tower

398
00:21:38,632 --> 00:21:42,569
at Cana Island originally was a
brick tower.

399
00:21:42,636 --> 00:21:45,606
They enclosed it in this metal
sheeting after the government

400
00:21:45,672 --> 00:21:49,109
realized the brick was wearing
too quickly.

401
00:21:49,176 --> 00:21:53,947
Cana Island sports the oldest
original French made

402
00:21:54,014 --> 00:21:58,519
Fresnel lens in Wisconsin.
It's still in the tower.

403
00:21:58,585 --> 00:22:02,489
Years ago, before the Door
County Maritime Museum took over

404
00:22:02,556 --> 00:22:05,325
there, you could not get into
the tower.

405
00:22:05,392 --> 00:22:08,428
We got special permission to
follow some Coast Guard

406
00:22:08,495 --> 00:22:11,899
gentlemen up to the tower and
took some pictures of the lens

407
00:22:11,965 --> 00:22:14,434
years ago.
This is only half of the lens.

408
00:22:14,501 --> 00:22:17,204
It stands about five feet tall,
weighs over a ton,

409
00:22:17,271 --> 00:22:20,307
and it's an engineering marvel.
Really revolutionized

410
00:22:20,374 --> 00:22:23,410
lighthouses throughout the
world.

411
00:22:23,477 --> 00:22:26,680
>> Is it all one piece of glass?
>> It is multiple, dozens and

412
00:22:26,747 --> 00:22:31,285
dozens of individual
hand-polished prisms.

413
00:22:31,351 --> 00:22:35,055
If it's disassembled,
there's hundreds of pieces.

414
00:22:35,122 --> 00:22:37,991
We've been to Cana Island
different times of the day,

415
00:22:38,058 --> 00:22:41,328
different seasons of the year.
We love to go to Door County.

416
00:22:41,395 --> 00:22:43,864
We were talking to somebody
before the program how they love

417
00:22:43,931 --> 00:22:47,801
Door County too.
Just one of our favorite places.

418
00:22:47,868 --> 00:22:50,537
Rarely do we go to Door County
without trying to take a stop

419
00:22:50,604 --> 00:22:53,507
over at Cana Island, even in the
wintertime.

420
00:22:53,574 --> 00:22:55,709
Not this winter.
>> No.

421
00:22:56,743 --> 00:23:00,113
>> We wanted to learn more about
Cana Island.

422
00:23:00,180 --> 00:23:04,484
This is the only original photo
known so far of the brick tower.

423
00:23:04,551 --> 00:23:09,156
We wanted to learn more about
the families and the keepers.

424
00:23:09,223 --> 00:23:12,559
This is Oscar Knudsen on the
right with an assistant keeper

425
00:23:12,626 --> 00:23:17,364
in the 1930s at Cana Island.
And this gentleman, just these

426
00:23:17,431 --> 00:23:22,870
classic archival photos, just
wonderful, this is Conrad Stram,

427
00:23:22,936 --> 00:23:27,474
and he spent over 40 years in
the lighthouse service.

428
00:23:27,541 --> 00:23:30,277
So we decided we didn't have
enough to do.

429
00:23:30,344 --> 00:23:32,913
We dug into some more of the
history, some of the old photos

430
00:23:32,980 --> 00:23:36,550
of Cana Island.
You've probably seen this style

431
00:23:36,617 --> 00:23:38,919
of book.
It's from Arcadia Publishing.

432
00:23:38,986 --> 00:23:41,922
We wrote a separate book just on
Cana Island.

433
00:23:41,989 --> 00:23:45,559
Neat place.
>> And now we'll go back to the

434
00:23:45,626 --> 00:23:47,828
mainland, just a little further
south.

435
00:23:47,895 --> 00:23:50,631
This is called the Old Baileys
Harbor Tower or lighthouse.

436
00:23:50,697 --> 00:23:54,334
Built here in 1852.
Baileys Harbor is named for

437
00:23:54,401 --> 00:23:57,237
Captain Justice Bailey who took
refuge here during a storm.

438
00:23:57,304 --> 00:24:00,007
The owner of the shipping
company he sailed with was

439
00:24:00,073 --> 00:24:02,676
Alanson Sweet, and he made sure
there was a lighthouse here to

440
00:24:02,743 --> 00:24:05,946
keep his captains and crew safe.
Take a look at the lantern or

441
00:24:06,013 --> 00:24:08,315
the lantern room.
It's very different from

442
00:24:08,382 --> 00:24:11,218
anything you've seen.
Besides being a little worn out,

443
00:24:11,285 --> 00:24:13,987
it's called a birdcage style,
and you can certainly see why.

444
00:24:14,054 --> 00:24:16,423
We've heard that the owners of
this privately held light have

445
00:24:16,490 --> 00:24:19,092
applied for some federal aid to
help shore her up.

446
00:24:19,159 --> 00:24:22,162
She needs a little bit of work.
Okay, another day, another boat

447
00:24:22,229 --> 00:24:24,231
trip.
Ken has waders.

448
00:24:24,698 --> 00:24:26,500
I don't.
I left mine home because they

449
00:24:26,567 --> 00:24:28,635
were leaking, so what was the
point.

450
00:24:28,702 --> 00:24:31,338
I'm resigned to the fact he gets
to go, I don't.

451
00:24:31,405 --> 00:24:34,241
Luckily, fishermen come along
and say, well, take ours.

452
00:24:34,308 --> 00:24:36,810
This is a lovely red boat that
we're standing in front of.

453
00:24:36,877 --> 00:24:39,813
They looked at me, said you get
in, he can pull you.

454
00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:42,516
[LAUGHTER]
>> They actually did.

455
00:24:42,583 --> 00:24:45,385
[LAUGHTER]
If any of you folks remember

456
00:24:45,452 --> 00:24:47,921
a movie called the African Queen
with Humphrey Bogart

457
00:24:47,988 --> 00:24:50,757
and Katharine Hepburn,
he's pulling this boat through

458
00:24:50,824 --> 00:24:53,427
the jungle, that's not exactly
how this was.

459
00:24:53,493 --> 00:24:56,697
>> Trudge, trudge, trudge.
Right?

460
00:24:56,763 --> 00:24:58,198
>> Barb isn't nearly as nicely
dressed as Katharine Hepburn

461
00:24:58,265 --> 00:25:00,667
was.
>> Let me tell you, the strait

462
00:25:00,734 --> 00:25:03,570
of water isn't that wide, it
wasn't that deep, but Ken's

463
00:25:03,637 --> 00:25:05,839
trudging along, and I said, oh,
my gosh, the boat is leaking,

464
00:25:05,906 --> 00:25:08,642
and it was.
And he said, pick up the gear.

465
00:25:08,709 --> 00:25:10,511
I said, I'm fine, thanks,
no problem.

466
00:25:10,577 --> 00:25:13,213
We landed.
Lighthouse is always on the

467
00:25:13,280 --> 00:25:15,182
opposite end of the island, and
we began carrying all of our

468
00:25:15,249 --> 00:25:17,718
gear, tripods, cameras.
There's a couple of gentlemen

469
00:25:17,784 --> 00:25:19,887
out in a rowboat, and they said,
where are you going?

470
00:25:19,953 --> 00:25:22,055
We said, we're going to see the
lighthouse.

471
00:25:22,122 --> 00:25:24,091
That's great, they said.
You're trespassing.

472
00:25:24,157 --> 00:25:26,026
This is private property.
>> Private property.

473
00:25:26,093 --> 00:25:28,362
[LAUGHTER]
>> And I'm looking at him

474
00:25:28,428 --> 00:25:30,230
thinking, okay, they're going to
kill us as we stand here.

475
00:25:30,297 --> 00:25:32,566
Well, what do you want?
Well, we want to take a picture.

476
00:25:32,633 --> 00:25:35,102
Fine, take your picture and go,
and beware of the large dog that

477
00:25:35,169 --> 00:25:38,005
roams the grounds.
Here he is.

478
00:25:38,071 --> 00:25:41,542
[LAUGHTER]
>> It's not quite Hank the dog,

479
00:25:41,608 --> 00:25:44,044
but he was a little guy.
>> He wasn't large and he wasn't

480
00:25:44,111 --> 00:25:46,246
roaming.
He peeked out the window, and we

481
00:25:46,313 --> 00:25:48,815
took his picture as well.
We left a business card, but we

482
00:25:48,882 --> 00:25:51,084
haven't heard from them so we
have not been invited back.

483
00:25:51,151 --> 00:25:54,655
[LAUGHTER]
>> We're going to venture now

484
00:25:54,721 --> 00:25:58,225
down the western shoreline
of Lake Michigan all the way

485
00:25:58,292 --> 00:26:00,861
to the Illinois border.
If you look at the map, every

486
00:26:00,928 --> 00:26:03,830
single major city in Wisconsin
has a lighthouse.

487
00:26:03,897 --> 00:26:07,768
In fact, several of them have
more than one.

488
00:26:07,835 --> 00:26:10,537
>> Our first stop here is at the
Rawley Point Lighthouse, which

489
00:26:10,604 --> 00:26:13,207
is conveniently located today in
Point Beach State Forest.

490
00:26:13,273 --> 00:26:15,342
So there's a small admission to
get into the park.

491
00:26:15,409 --> 00:26:16,777
The tall tower in the back is
way.

492
00:26:16,844 --> 00:26:19,680
the newer one.
It is the granddaddy of all

493
00:26:19,746 --> 00:26:22,482
lights in Wisconsin.
She's the tallest at 111 feet

494
00:26:22,549 --> 00:26:25,219
tall.
This is a fact that we had kind

495
00:26:25,285 --> 00:26:27,621
of vacillated on a number of
years ago, but now we've been

496
00:26:27,688 --> 00:26:30,290
set straight.
So she is the tallest.

497
00:26:30,357 --> 00:26:31,024
You can see the little, short,
round brick tower that Ken is

498
00:26:31,091 --> 00:26:33,327
Freyberg.
pointing to.

499
00:26:34,228 --> 00:26:36,897
That was the original tower at
this location.

500
00:26:36,964 --> 00:26:39,333
When they put the big tall one
into service, they chopped this

501
00:26:39,399 --> 00:26:41,969
one down, reroofed it, and it
became part of the keeper's

502
00:26:42,035 --> 00:26:44,738
round living room.
I don't know how you decorate a

503
00:26:44,805 --> 00:26:47,875
round room, but we were told
that they really use the space

504
00:26:47,941 --> 00:26:51,512
well.
>> Rawley Point is interesting

505
00:26:51,578 --> 00:26:55,549
from a number of aspects.
The style of this lighthouse is

506
00:26:55,616 --> 00:26:58,619
called an erector style.
If anybody in the audience ever

507
00:26:58,685 --> 00:27:01,655
had an erector set as a kid like
I did, all these struts and all

508
00:27:01,722 --> 00:27:05,826
these geometry shapes, it's
really kind of neat.

509
00:27:05,893 --> 00:27:08,061
Not only does it make for nice
photographs, it's a very strong

510
00:27:08,128 --> 00:27:11,064
tower.
You can see the central column

511
00:27:11,131 --> 00:27:13,834
there is braced by all of these
struts.

512
00:27:13,901 --> 00:27:16,803
This lighthouse actually came
from the state of Illinois.

513
00:27:16,870 --> 00:27:19,706
It was on the Chicago River.
They disassembled it when the

514
00:27:19,773 --> 00:27:23,777
government realized they needed
a taller tower at Rawley Point.

515
00:27:23,844 --> 00:27:28,382
One thing, we're not sure why,
this is the only lighthouse in

516
00:27:28,448 --> 00:27:33,220
Wisconsin, this is the lantern
area, this is a watch room, and

517
00:27:33,287 --> 00:27:36,223
below that is a second watch
room, when they reconfigured

518
00:27:36,290 --> 00:27:40,827
this to make the tower taller,
they added a second watch room.

519
00:27:40,894 --> 00:27:43,463
There is no other light in
Wisconsin that has that

520
00:27:43,530 --> 00:27:49,002
double-decker lantern room.
Would love to find out why.

521
00:27:49,069 --> 00:27:52,573
There's a caretaker that lives
in residence at Rawley Point and

522
00:27:52,639 --> 00:27:57,311
also military people get to
vacation there for rest and

523
00:27:57,377 --> 00:28:00,380
relaxation.
We were fortunate to be invited

524
00:28:00,447 --> 00:28:04,451
up there one weekend.
The caretaker had the key of

525
00:28:04,518 --> 00:28:07,154
course, and we were able to get
into the lantern.

526
00:28:07,221 --> 00:28:09,089
There's a modern what's called
an arrow beacon now at Rawley

527
00:28:09,156 --> 00:28:12,059
Point.
Again, Rawley Point is the

528
00:28:12,125 --> 00:28:15,562
tallest in Wisconsin at 111
feet.

529
00:28:15,629 --> 00:28:18,298
One foot made a difference.
>> One foot, that's all it

530
00:28:18,365 --> 00:28:20,834
needed.
And again, moving further south.

531
00:28:20,901 --> 00:28:23,303
This is Port Washington.
This is the Old Port Washington

532
00:28:23,370 --> 00:28:27,007
Light Station, built here in
1860 on the north bluff.

533
00:28:27,074 --> 00:28:29,009
If you look at the design of
this light, it's very similar to

534
00:28:29,076 --> 00:28:31,645
that of Green Island or
Pottawatomie.

535
00:28:31,712 --> 00:28:34,815
The government would reuse plans
over and over when they could.

536
00:28:34,882 --> 00:28:38,418
They might put the lantern at a
different angle or put it at the

537
00:28:38,485 --> 00:28:40,354
rear of the building, but,
essentially, the floor plan is

538
00:28:40,420 --> 00:28:42,956
identical.
And this is the Port Washington

539
00:28:43,023 --> 00:28:45,792
pierhead light, put into service
about 30 years later.

540
00:28:45,859 --> 00:28:47,694
So then the keeper was
responsible for the care and

541
00:28:47,761 --> 00:28:50,330
lighting of this light every
night.

542
00:28:50,397 --> 00:28:53,534
Hiking down an 80-foot bluff,
perhaps with equipment or fuel,

543
00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:55,702
he would take the elevated
catwalk out and hang onto the

544
00:28:55,769 --> 00:28:58,238
guide wires to avoid being
swept overboard.

545
00:28:58,305 --> 00:29:01,675
So much for a romantic life,
right?

546
00:29:01,742 --> 00:29:03,477
And this is the current Port
Washington pierhead light, built

547
00:29:03,544 --> 00:29:06,146
here in 1935.
This is the breakwater that

548
00:29:06,213 --> 00:29:09,016
they're going to be repairing
this summer.

549
00:29:09,082 --> 00:29:12,686
>> This gentleman
and his family, this is

550
00:29:12,753 --> 00:29:15,689
Captain Charles Lewis Sr.
He was actually a whaling

551
00:29:15,756 --> 00:29:18,825
captain on the east coast
of the United States

552
00:29:18,892 --> 00:29:22,029
in the early 1800s.
He and his family moved west to

553
00:29:22,095 --> 00:29:25,566
the Great Lakes area.
He and his wife Maria and their

554
00:29:25,632 --> 00:29:30,304
son Charles Jr spent
collectively over 40 years at

555
00:29:31,238 --> 00:29:34,708
Old Port Washington.
This was not all that unusual.

556
00:29:34,775 --> 00:29:37,477
We found many records of
families at a given lighthouse

557
00:29:37,544 --> 00:29:42,549
for several decades.
Old Port Washington, like a lot

558
00:29:42,616 --> 00:29:47,221
of lighthouses, changed hands as
technology evolved.

559
00:29:47,287 --> 00:29:50,057
The Coast Guard was in residence
here for a while.

560
00:29:50,123 --> 00:29:52,526
They eventually took the lantern
off.

561
00:29:52,593 --> 00:29:55,462
You can see the top of the roof
here is missing the lantern.

562
00:29:55,529 --> 00:29:58,565
The Port Washington Historical
Society eventually made part of

563
00:29:58,632 --> 00:30:02,135
their home here.
It was always their plan to try

564
00:30:02,202 --> 00:30:06,573
to renovate and restore
Old Port Washington, and it's

565
00:30:06,640 --> 00:30:09,776
unbelievable what they've done
in the last 15 years.

566
00:30:09,843 --> 00:30:13,680
They took all that white paint
off, revealing that gorgeous

567
00:30:13,747 --> 00:30:17,251
Milwaukee Cream City brick.
The country of Luxemburg donated

568
00:30:17,317 --> 00:30:22,189
a replica lantern.
About 10 years ago, lighthouse

569
00:30:22,256 --> 00:30:25,125
enthusiasts from all over the
region in different parts of the

570
00:30:25,192 --> 00:30:28,028
US and different countries of
the world came for that red

571
00:30:28,095 --> 00:30:30,898
ribbon cutting atop the tower.
Today, Port Washington has a

572
00:30:30,964 --> 00:30:34,968
replica lantern light inside the
lantern.

573
00:30:35,636 --> 00:30:38,272
This is what it looked like
15 years ago.

574
00:30:38,338 --> 00:30:41,141
This is today.
Unbelievable.

575
00:30:41,875 --> 00:30:45,612
You can actually go inside Old
Port on the weekends for a tour.

576
00:30:45,679 --> 00:30:49,516
They've refurbished the inside.
Not many lighthouses in

577
00:30:49,583 --> 00:30:53,754
Wisconsin have been renovated
both inside and outside.

578
00:30:53,820 --> 00:30:56,757
>> This is our hometown of
Milwaukee.

579
00:30:56,823 --> 00:30:59,059
This is called the North Point
Lighthouse.

580
00:30:59,126 --> 00:31:02,796
This is the first lighthouse
built in Milwaukee in 1855.

581
00:31:02,863 --> 00:31:06,400
The brick tower stood about 28
feet tall, but it was very close

582
00:31:06,466 --> 00:31:08,769
to the bluff, and there was a
lot of erosion going on.

583
00:31:08,836 --> 00:31:12,072
So after about 30 years,
they moved the light.

584
00:31:12,139 --> 00:31:14,908
A brand new building about how
many hundreds of feet inland?

585
00:31:14,975 --> 00:31:17,010
>> A couple hundred.
Several hundred.

586
00:31:17,077 --> 00:31:19,246
>> To keep it well away from the
bluff.

587
00:31:19,313 --> 00:31:21,081
So now she's 39 feet tall.
An iron tower, beautiful

588
00:31:21,148 --> 00:31:24,585
two-story keeper's quarters
attached.

589
00:31:24,651 --> 00:31:27,521
Lake Park Milwaukee was actually
designed and built around the

590
00:31:27,588 --> 00:31:29,790
lighthouse because the
lighthouse came first.

591
00:31:29,857 --> 00:31:32,292
So there are the famous
lion bridges.

592
00:31:32,359 --> 00:31:35,295
The trees got too tall.
Rather than cutting down the

593
00:31:35,362 --> 00:31:37,364
trees, they built a new base for
the lighthouse and put the

594
00:31:37,431 --> 00:31:39,266
shorty on top of it.
So now she stands about 74 feet

595
00:31:39,333 --> 00:31:41,268
tall.
I don't understand, but that's

596
00:31:41,335 --> 00:31:43,637
what they did.
When the Coast Guard was in

597
00:31:43,704 --> 00:31:47,107
residence in the 1950s, they
tended the light, and they

598
00:31:47,174 --> 00:31:49,776
actually put a ring buoy above
the front door, and it does say

599
00:31:49,843 --> 00:31:54,848
US Coast Guard on it.
Several famous keepers tended

600
00:31:54,915 --> 00:31:57,651
our Milwaukee Light.
This is Martin Knudsen.

601
00:31:57,718 --> 00:32:01,388
And this gentleman is Reynold
Johnson.

602
00:32:02,890 --> 00:32:06,827
Surfman Alexander Warner started
his career on Lake Superior.

603
00:32:06,894 --> 00:32:09,429
As a surfman, you had to go out
to rescue people, but you didn't

604
00:32:09,496 --> 00:32:13,033
necessarily have to come back.
Later, he was actually in the

605
00:32:13,100 --> 00:32:15,402
Coast Guard for a number of
decades and went on to be known

606
00:32:15,469 --> 00:32:19,273
as "The Chief," and you better
believe he was the chief.

607
00:32:19,339 --> 00:32:21,141
>> He looks like the chief.
>> He looks like the chief.

608
00:32:21,208 --> 00:32:23,644
He sure does.
And we can't discuss Milwaukee

609
00:32:23,710 --> 00:32:26,346
without talking about our woman
light keeper.

610
00:32:26,413 --> 00:32:28,682
This is Georgia Stebbins, who
served here in an official

611
00:32:28,749 --> 00:32:31,919
capacity for 25 years.
But if you look at the logbooks,

612
00:32:31,985 --> 00:32:34,555
she helped her father out early
and stayed on longer.

613
00:32:34,621 --> 00:32:39,660
It was closer to 35 years.
>> This was a remarkable story,

614
00:32:39,726 --> 00:32:44,398
a remarkable woman.
Like I mentioned before, many

615
00:32:45,165 --> 00:32:49,670
lighthouses, as technology
advanced, they were automated,

616
00:32:49,736 --> 00:32:52,973
many times boarded up.
This is what North Point looked

617
00:32:53,040 --> 00:32:56,243
like about 20 years ago after
the Coast Guard was no longer at

618
00:32:56,310 --> 00:32:59,580
the facility.
This house really was ready to

619
00:32:59,646 --> 00:33:03,250
fall down.
There was a group in the area

620
00:33:03,317 --> 00:33:05,953
that wanted to refurbish the
light.

621
00:33:06,019 --> 00:33:07,754
They got permission from the
city of Milwaukee, the county of

622
00:33:07,821 --> 00:33:09,990
Milwaukee, the federal
government.

623
00:33:10,057 --> 00:33:12,526
They formed a friends group.
They opened up the tower.

624
00:33:12,593 --> 00:33:14,628
The tower, this is the base of
the tower, actually looked a lot

625
00:33:14,695 --> 00:33:17,364
worse than this.
If you can image about two feet

626
00:33:17,431 --> 00:33:21,335
of animal droppings in the tower
over many decades.

627
00:33:21,401 --> 00:33:25,005
Didn't stop the friends though.
They initially worked on the

628
00:33:25,072 --> 00:33:28,375
tower.
There were issues with lead

629
00:33:28,442 --> 00:33:31,612
paint, not only in the tower but
in the ground.

630
00:33:31,678 --> 00:33:34,882
So those had to be remediated.
Their next venture was to

631
00:33:34,948 --> 00:33:37,751
totally reconfigure and
rehabilitate the

632
00:33:37,818 --> 00:33:40,754
two-and-a-half-story keeper's
quarters.

633
00:33:40,821 --> 00:33:43,991
And today, if you go through
Milwaukee's Lake Park, this is

634
00:33:44,057 --> 00:33:48,695
what North Point looks like.
Again, the amount of resources

635
00:33:48,762 --> 00:33:54,067
and time and efforts from
volunteers is staggering.

636
00:33:54,134 --> 00:33:57,905
So, our hometown of Milwaukee,
we had written a couple of

637
00:33:57,971 --> 00:33:59,773
books, we thought, you know,
it's probably time we learned a

638
00:33:59,840 --> 00:34:02,509
little bit more about
North Point.

639
00:34:02,576 --> 00:34:05,078
So we delved into some archives
and history and wrote a book on

640
00:34:05,145 --> 00:34:09,583
North Point.
Last lighthouse we'll talk about

641
00:34:09,650 --> 00:34:12,853
formally is Wind Point in
Racine, just north of Racine.

642
00:34:12,920 --> 00:34:15,055
This is another tall classic
tower.

643
00:34:15,122 --> 00:34:18,091
Third tallest in Wisconsin,
108 feet.

644
00:34:18,158 --> 00:34:21,261
Still one of the tallest and
oldest on the Great Lakes.

645
00:34:21,328 --> 00:34:25,132
This is another success story
in Wisconsin.

646
00:34:25,199 --> 00:34:27,234
There's a friends group here at
Wind Point.

647
00:34:27,301 --> 00:34:29,636
The Coast Guard takes care of
the beacon.

648
00:34:29,703 --> 00:34:32,172
The village of Wind Point has
offices in part of the keeper's

649
00:34:32,239 --> 00:34:34,975
quarters, and there's a
caretaker couple that lives in

650
00:34:35,042 --> 00:34:38,212
residence.
All those folks work together to

651
00:34:38,278 --> 00:34:41,548
open up the tower on Sundays
during the summertime.

652
00:34:41,615 --> 00:34:44,084
This is from the top of the
tower.

653
00:34:44,151 --> 00:34:46,320
If you're afraid of heights,
looking down late in the

654
00:34:46,386 --> 00:34:49,156
afternoon, Wind Point casts a
very long shadow.

655
00:34:49,223 --> 00:34:53,393
144 steps takes you to the top.
We count steps.

656
00:34:53,460 --> 00:34:56,830
>> Well, I am afraid of heights,
but I would never, ever turn

657
00:34:56,897 --> 00:34:59,533
down the opportunity to climb.
So we were there one Sunday

658
00:34:59,600 --> 00:35:02,402
after mass, I still had my
church clothes on.

659
00:35:02,469 --> 00:35:05,239
So there I am, hanging onto the
bannister and that long skirt.

660
00:35:05,305 --> 00:35:07,274
So if I was a woman keeper, I
wonder what I would had done if

661
00:35:07,341 --> 00:35:09,643
I had to carry something up or
down those steps.

662
00:35:09,710 --> 00:35:12,746
It gave me a very good
appreciation for the women.

663
00:35:12,813 --> 00:35:15,749
>> And this is one of those kind
of picture postcard moments.

664
00:35:15,816 --> 00:35:19,353
You stand in the meadow at Wind
Point during the holiday season.

665
00:35:19,419 --> 00:35:22,155
All the people that I mentioned
decorate not only the tower but

666
00:35:22,222 --> 00:35:25,559
the grounds.
Take your camera, snap,

667
00:35:25,626 --> 00:35:29,129
it's gorgeous.
But Wind Point is like that.

668
00:35:29,196 --> 00:35:31,732
It's different seasons,
different times of the day.

669
00:35:31,798 --> 00:35:34,168
We wanted to learn more about
some of the history and the

670
00:35:34,234 --> 00:35:36,436
people that tended wind point.
We learned about this gentleman

671
00:35:36,503 --> 00:35:39,406
by accident.
This is Alfred Finch.

672
00:35:39,473 --> 00:35:43,710
He is the first keeper
at Wind Point, 1880.

673
00:35:43,777 --> 00:35:46,213
You'll notice he's in some
Civil War...

674
00:35:46,280 --> 00:35:49,516
>> Uniform.
>> Uniform, thank you.

675
00:35:50,117 --> 00:35:53,253
The word wouldn't come out.
We also learned that this

676
00:35:53,320 --> 00:35:56,290
gentleman was in the same
Wisconsin regiment as the famous

677
00:35:56,356 --> 00:35:59,660
Wisconsin war eagle Old Abe.
How would you ever find that

678
00:35:59,726 --> 00:36:01,395
out?
[LAUGHTER]

679
00:36:02,996 --> 00:36:05,832
These three gentlemen were
keepers and assistants

680
00:36:05,899 --> 00:36:08,302
at Wind Point.
Henry Bevry on the left, Julius

681
00:36:08,368 --> 00:36:11,471
Lonne in the middle, and William
Nash on the right.

682
00:36:11,538 --> 00:36:16,076
Combined 90 years of service
just at Wind Point.

683
00:36:16,143 --> 00:36:19,513
So, of course, we had to write a
book about Wind Point.

684
00:36:19,580 --> 00:36:22,583
[LAUGHTER]
We're going to very briefly

685
00:36:22,649 --> 00:36:25,018
go through a few lighthouses
that have changed hands

686
00:36:25,085 --> 00:36:27,688
in Wisconsin.
Ones that we haven't mentioned

687
00:36:27,754 --> 00:36:31,658
already.
Some that are still for sale.

688
00:36:31,725 --> 00:36:34,161
You're probably aware that many
lights are still for sale on the

689
00:36:34,228 --> 00:36:36,697
Great Lakes by the government.
This is the Grassy Island Range

690
00:36:36,763 --> 00:36:39,233
Lights.
It's a series of two lights that

691
00:36:39,299 --> 00:36:42,102
sits at the Green Bay Yacht Club
now.

692
00:36:42,169 --> 00:36:45,005
In the 1950s, the government was
actually going to burn these

693
00:36:45,072 --> 00:36:47,741
down.
They were on an island right in

694
00:36:47,808 --> 00:36:50,677
the middle of Green Bay.
A couple of gentlemen from the

695
00:36:50,744 --> 00:36:53,247
yacht club just didn't like that
idea.

696
00:36:53,313 --> 00:36:57,084
So what they did over the last
decade or more is they got

697
00:36:57,150 --> 00:37:00,220
a group together.
This is what Grassy Island

698
00:37:00,287 --> 00:37:03,357
looks like today.
They're completely refurbished.

699
00:37:03,423 --> 00:37:06,460
The gentleman on the left
is Dave Nelson.

700
00:37:06,527 --> 00:37:09,463
The gentleman on the right
is Merle Bayman.

701
00:37:09,530 --> 00:37:13,500
These two were instrumental in
saving Grassy Island.

702
00:37:13,567 --> 00:37:16,069
Many times it only takes a
person or two to get something

703
00:37:16,136 --> 00:37:19,373
going with lighthouse
preservation.

704
00:37:19,439 --> 00:37:22,776
There's a couple of lights in
the Bay of Green Bay

705
00:37:22,843 --> 00:37:26,013
that are still for sale.
This is the Peshtigo Reef Light.

706
00:37:26,079 --> 00:37:29,616
It's a crib light.
Not that far away is the Green

707
00:37:29,683 --> 00:37:33,153
Bay Harbor Entrance Light.
The government would still like

708
00:37:33,220 --> 00:37:35,956
somebody to take these over, but
last we heard they were still

709
00:37:36,023 --> 00:37:39,026
what are considered excess
property.

710
00:37:39,092 --> 00:37:42,229
Still automated,
still functioning.

711
00:37:42,296 --> 00:37:45,165
This is Big Red, the Sturgeon
Bay North Canal Pierhead Light,

712
00:37:45,232 --> 00:37:48,035
very long name.
Some of the locals call it

713
00:37:48,101 --> 00:37:51,605
Big Red in Sturgeon Bay.
Last we heard they are still

714
00:37:51,672 --> 00:37:56,944
looking for a buyer for this.
Plum and Pilot Island in the

715
00:37:57,010 --> 00:38:00,013
Death's Door Straits has a
friends group, but they have

716
00:38:00,080 --> 00:38:02,649
their work cut out for them.
This is the Plum Island

717
00:38:02,716 --> 00:38:06,286
Rear Range Light.
This is Pilot Island, which is

718
00:38:06,353 --> 00:38:09,389
under the auspices of the
US Fish and Wildlife Service.

719
00:38:09,456 --> 00:38:12,926
They've deemed that this island
will be a sanctuary

720
00:38:12,993 --> 00:38:17,664
for cormorants and gulls.
Barb and I love birds.

721
00:38:17,731 --> 00:38:21,134
This island is completely,
I shouldn't say completely,

722
00:38:21,201 --> 00:38:24,104
mostly dead, because of the
thousands of birds

723
00:38:24,171 --> 00:38:28,175
that now congregate.
Unfortunately, that will make it

724
00:38:28,242 --> 00:38:31,211
much more difficult to save
an island like Pilot Island.

725
00:38:31,278 --> 00:38:34,014
This is the fog signal building
on Pilot Island.

726
00:38:34,081 --> 00:38:37,651
Anything that's not concrete has
already collapsed on itself.

727
00:38:37,718 --> 00:38:40,854
They're concerned that the rest
of the building, this foghorn

728
00:38:40,921 --> 00:38:43,423
was one of the loudest on the
Great Lakes.

729
00:38:43,490 --> 00:38:46,393
This is the Manitowoc Pierhead
Light.

730
00:38:46,460 --> 00:38:48,862
It's currently in the hands of a
private owner from New York,

731
00:38:48,929 --> 00:38:51,098
and we're hoping that he'll
refurbish it and open it to the

732
00:38:51,164 --> 00:38:54,535
public sometime in the future.
Her lookalike is in Milwaukee,

733
00:38:54,601 --> 00:38:57,070
the Milwaukee North Breakwater
Light.

734
00:38:57,137 --> 00:38:59,940
This has been taken over by a
nonprofit from Brookfield, and

735
00:39:00,007 --> 00:39:02,976
they want to do some scouting
groups and do some other little

736
00:39:03,043 --> 00:39:06,580
mini museum inside.
It sits at the end of a mile and

737
00:39:06,647 --> 00:39:09,583
a half long non-continuous
breakwater.

738
00:39:09,650 --> 00:39:11,885
So getting back and forth,
even by boat, can be very

739
00:39:11,952 --> 00:39:14,388
challenging.
And this is also the Denis

740
00:39:14,454 --> 00:39:17,191
Sullivan that's in the picture
going by.

741
00:39:17,257 --> 00:39:19,760
Kenosha, there's an artist in
residence here only in the

742
00:39:19,826 --> 00:39:22,129
summer months.
In the winter of course,

743
00:39:22,196 --> 00:39:24,498
the pier is covered with ice.
The lighthouse is not heated, so

744
00:39:24,565 --> 00:39:26,900
there's not art going on in the
wintertime.

745
00:39:26,967 --> 00:39:28,669
They'll hopefully be back in
there by May.

746
00:39:28,735 --> 00:39:30,971
>> Not this past winter for
sure.

747
00:39:31,038 --> 00:39:33,106
>> Not this past winter.
And lastly, this is the Kewaunee

748
00:39:33,173 --> 00:39:35,108
Pierhead Light, and the city of
Kewaunee recently took over her

749
00:39:35,175 --> 00:39:37,578
care, and they also hope to
clean her up and open her up to

750
00:39:37,644 --> 00:39:40,581
the public at some point in the
future.

751
00:39:40,647 --> 00:39:42,482
>> What we're going to do now is
finish the program with some of

752
00:39:42,549 --> 00:39:45,919
our favorite photos set to music
again.

753
00:39:45,986 --> 00:39:48,589
When the music is done, we'd be
happy to try to answer

754
00:39:48,655 --> 00:39:51,058
any questions.
We want to thank the museum

755
00:39:51,124 --> 00:39:53,827
again for inviting us
this afternoon.

756
00:39:53,894 --> 00:39:55,762
>> Thank you.
>> I hope you've learned a

757
00:39:55,829 --> 00:39:57,798
little bit about Wisconsin
lighthouses.

758
00:39:57,865 --> 00:39:59,766
I hope we've had a little fun
along the way.

759
00:39:59,833 --> 00:40:01,301
Sit back for a couple minutes,
enjoy the last few minutes

760
00:40:01,368 --> 00:40:03,937
of Wisconsin lighthouses.

761
00:43:54,334 --> 00:43:55,802
>> Thanks for spending your
lunch hour with us.

762
00:43:55,869 --> 00:43:57,538
[APPLAUSE]