North Point Lighthouse and Queen Anne-style Keeper's Quarters © 2011 Bo Mackison
The North Point Lighthouse and Quarter’s Keepers was the headquarters and first stop on the Wright and Like Tour held the weekend of June 10-12, 2011 in the Milwaukee area. The tour, an annual affair sponsored by the Frank Lloyd Wright® Wisconsin Heritage Tourism Program, Inc., included tours of buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and other related architects. In addition to the lighthouse, there were thirteen homes on Saturday’s tour.
The North Point Light Station is in Lake Park, a north shore park, and situated on the bluffs overlooking Lake Michigan. It consists of a 74-foot lighthouse and two and wood-frame, Queen Anne-style Keeper’s Quarters.
Lake Park, with the lighthouse as its central structure, was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted in the 1890s. Olmsted also designed New York’s Central Park and the grounds of the 1893 Chicago Exposition and was a leading American landscape architect of that era.
North Point Lighthouse Circular Staircase with Port Hole © 2011 Bo Mackison
This is the second lighthouse on this site. The original lighthouse, built in 1868, required replacement because it was not high enough to provide an adequate warning light.
Construction of the North Point Light Station was built in 1887-88. The lighthouse was placed atop a 39-foot high octagon shaped structure constructed entirely of bolted cast iron sections. The 1868 lens was placed in the new Lighthouse.
Foggy, Rainy, Through-a-Dirty-Window, View of Lake Michigan from North Point Lighthouse © 2011 Bo Mackison
North Point Lighthouse and the Keeper’s Quarters were placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. The U.S. Coast Guard removed the lighthouse from service in 1994 and the original Fourth Order Fresnel lens was removed and stored by the U.S. Coast Guard in Milwaukee. The lighthouse was restored in 2007 to its original glory by the North Point Lighthouse Friends, Inc. It is open for weekend tours, and well worth the nominal cost.
We climbed to the top of the Lighthouse tower — certainly not for the view as it was foggy and rainy, and the windows had a layer of dust that obscured the view, even if it had been a clear day. No, we climbed the circular staircases for the thrill of climbing six flights of stairs in very tight quarters. Good for challenging both my claustrophobia and Sherpa’s acrophobia.
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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC.
