Wisconsin Lighthouses by Ken Wardius

Author:Ken Wardius [Ken Wardius and Barb Wardius]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780870206092
Publisher: Wisconsin Historical Society Press

Plum Island Range Lights

Plum Island sits where Lake Michigan links to Green Bay, between the end of the main Door Peninsula and Washington Island. Two explanations for how Plum Island got its name are common: some say the three-hundred-acre island is “plumb” in the middle of the treacherous Death’s Door passage; others claim it is named for its plumlike shape.

The original lighthouse on Plum Island was built in 1848 and was called the Porte des Morts Lighthouse. Later the Lighthouse Board deemed this location to be ineffective, and a lighthouse was established farther east in Death’s Door on Pilot Island in 1858 (a source of confusion, since the light on Pilot Island was also called the Porte des Morts Lighthouse). Today all that remains of the original light on Plum Island are a few foundation stones near the island’s eastern shoreline.

The Plum Island Range Lights were constructed in 1896 and first lit the following year. The lights are located on the southern end of the island, the front light about a third of a mile east of the rear light. These lights guide sailors safely from Lake Michigan through this difficult passage into Green Bay. The rear light consists of a sixty-five-foot tubular-shaped and skeletal tower capped with a red lantern that houses a fourth-order Fresnel lens with a fixed red beam. A spacious two-story keeper’s dwelling stands nearby, and a fog signal, which began operation in 1897, is located to the west.

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