Manitowoc's harbor has had a lighthouse since 1840. Here's what to know about its legacy.
Since 1839, after the Indigenous Menominee people ceded the land to the federal government, a lighthouse has kept watch over Manitowoc's harbor, guiding vessels and witnessing the town's growth and change.
The city's first lighthouse was lit in 1840. Built at the corner of York and North Fifth streets, it included a brick tower and a home for the lighthouse keeper. By the 1860s, around 680 ships moved approximately 150,000 tons of cargo through the harbor each year — primarily lumber and wheat. As shipping traffic increased, so did the need for stronger navigational and safety aids.
Construction of parallel piers began in 1867, and in December 1873, the North Pierhead Lighthouse was added. For a time, the keeper was responsible for both lights, until the original 1839 lighthouse was decommissioned in 1877.
Further changes came in 1895 with the addition of a 400-foot breakwater and the construction of a fog signal building. Congress allocated $5,500 for the project, which added even more safety for ships navigating the busy mouth of the Manitowoc River.
By 1910, the structures had been moved multiple times because of construction and instability. The Lighthouse Bureau ultimately recommended replacing the now-compromised breakwater light. After several appeals, Congress approved $21,000 for a new lighthouse in 1917.
Construction on this new lighthouse started in May 1918, but was delayed six months as the money from the original appropriation ran out. A temporary oil light was put in until a permanent fourth-order Fresnel lens that was first lit on Dec. 13, 1919. It was also equipped with a powerful diaphone fog signal before construction was completed in June 1920. The Manitowoc Breakwater Lighthouse remains in place today, and the 1873 North Pierhead Light continued serving mariners until it was destroyed in a 1938 storm.
Read more: Manitowoc lighthouse to be open for guided tours by the Wisconsin Maritime Museum
Technology continued to modernize the lighthouse. In 1964, the fog signal was upgraded to an electric horn, and the lighthouse was automated in 1971. Then, in 2009, the Coast Guard declared it surplus property and put it up for public auction. The winning bid came from Philip Carlucci of New York, who later partnered with the Manitowoc Sunrise Rotary Club to restore the lighthouse and make it accessible to visitors.
Read more: 10 things you may not know about Manitowoc's lighthouse
Now, the Wisconsin Maritime Museum is helping preserve and interpret this iconic landmark. This summer, weather permitting, the museum will offer guided tours of the Manitowoc Breakwater Lighthouse. These tours will explore not only the harbor's maritime history, but also the evolution of lighthouse technology and the lives of the keepers who kept the light burning.
For locals and visitors alike, it's a rare opportunity to connect with a living piece of Great Lakes history. For more details, visit our website, https://www.wisconsinmaritime.org/visit/lighthouse-tours/.
Serena Stuettgen is collections manager at Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc.
This article originally appeared on Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Manitowoc lighthouse will open for tours, legacy dates to 1840
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