Baileys Harbor Range Lights

The Baileys Harbor Range Lights are a pair of lighthouses arranged in a range light configuration, located near Baileys Harbor in Door County, Wisconsin, United States.

Baileys Harbor Front Range Light

Skeleton tower (now removed), front range light, rear range light(way in back)
Location	Baileys Harbor, Wisconsin
Coordinates	45°04′13″N 87°07′11″W
Year first lit	1869
Automated	1930
Deactivated	1969-2015
Foundation	Field stone
Construction	Wood
Tower shape	Square base, upper is octagonal
Markings / pattern	KRW
Tower height	21 feet (6.4 m)
Original lens	Fifth order Fresnel (1897)[1]
Current lens	LED
Heritage	place listed on the National Register of Historic Places
Baileys Harbor Range Light
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
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Location	Roughly Co. Rd. Q, Ridges Rd., and WI 57, Baileys Harbor, Wisconsin
Coordinates	45°4′19″N 87°7′13″W
Area	5.4 acres (2.2 ha)
Built	1869
Architect	Breitbach, Andrew
NRHP reference No.	89001466[2]
Added to NRHP	September 21, 1989

Baileys Harbor Rear Range Light

Rear range light
Location	Baileys Harbor, Wisconsin
Coordinates	45°04′22″N 87°07′16″W
Year first lit	1870
Automated	1930
Deactivated	1969-2015
Foundation	Field stone
Construction	Wood
Tower shape	Square, atop a house
Markings / pattern	White w/black and red markings
Tower height	30 feet (9.1 m)[3]
Focal height	36 feet (11 m)[4]
Original lens	Fifth order Fresnel
Current lens	LED
Characteristic	directional mark
ARLHS number	USA-027[5][6]
Heritage	place listed on the National Register of Historic Places

Baileys Harbor Directional Light

Location	Baileys Harbor, Wisconsin
Coordinates	45°04′11.305″N 87°07′9.781″W[7]
Year first lit	1969
Deactivated	2015
Foundation	Concrete
Construction	Metal skeleton tower with red/white/red dayboard
Tower height	21 ft (6.4 m)[3]
Focal height	21 feet (6.4 m)[4]
Characteristic	White light Flashing every 2.5 seconds, with a higher intensity beam on a bearing of 340°[8]
ARLHS number	USA-936[6][9]
USCG number	7-21228
Heritage	place listed on the National Register of Historic Places

History

The range lights replaced the Baileys Harbor Lighthouse in 1870 at a cost of $6,000.[10] They are approximately 980 feet (300 m) apart and aligned on a 340° bearing line to guide boats safely into the harbor. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989, as reference number 89001466 as the Baileys Harbor Range Light. Currently part of the Ridges wildlife sanctuary, which is listed on the List of National Natural Landmarks in Wisconsin. The grounds may be visited and guided tours are given during peak tourist seasons.

The Bailey's Harbor Range Light is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Reference #89001466, as BAILEYS HARBOR RANGE LIGHT. It is also on the State List/Inventory as of 1988.[10]

After 1969, the Coast Guard removed lighting equipment from the original buildings and replaced them with a single directional light on the beach. In 1990, the Ridges Sanctuary took possession of the buildings and began restoring them; this was completed during the 1990s, when both buildings were rewired to supply electricity to the lamps. A skeleton tower, which was listed in Volume VII of the United States Coast Guard light list, provided shipping guidance until 2015, when the original range lights were updated with modern LED lamps and brought back online.

Gallery

• 
  Bailey's Harbor Lower Range Light plaque.
• 
  Lower Range Light with skeleton tower removed.
• 
  Plaque at the base of the lower range light for The Ridges Sanctuary.

Notes

1. "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Wisconsin". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.
2. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
3. Pepper, Terry. "Database of Tower Heights". Seeing the Light. terrypepper.com. Archived from the original on 2000-09-18.
4. Pepper, Terry. "Database of Focal Heights". Seeing the Light. terrypepper.com. Archived from the original on 2012-09-19.
5. "Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society, Baileys Harbor Rear Range (Lake Michigan) Light ARLHS USA-027".
6. "Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society, World List of Lights". Archived from the original on 2009-04-21.
7. Light List, Volume VII, Great Lakes (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard.
8. Light List, Volume VII, Great Lakes (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard. 2003. p. 210.
9. "Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society, Baileys Harbor Lower Front Range (Lake Michigan) Light ARLHS USA-936".
10. National Park Service, Maritime History Project, Inventory of Historic Light Stations - Wisconsin

Further reading

• Door County Maritime Museum, Baileys Harbor Range Lights.
• 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, Baileys Harbor Range Lights.
• Pepper, Terry. "Seeing the Light: Lighthouses on the western Great Lakes". Archived from the original on 2008-01-30.
• 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.

External links

Media related to Baileys Harbor Range Lights at Wikimedia Commons

• Door County Lighthouses, Door County Marine Museum.
• Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Eastern Wisconsin". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
• Satellite View, Baileys Harbor Range Lights at Google maps.