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 Range Lights

Location	Door County, United States
Water body	Baileys Harbor
Coordinates	45°04′19″N 87°07′12″W
Construction	lumber
Baileys Harbor Range Front Light
Coordinates	45°04′13″N 87°07′11″W[citation needed]
Constructed	1869
Foundation	Field stone
Construction	Wood
Automated	1930
Height	21 feet (6.4 m)
Shape	Square base, upper is octagonal
Markings	KRW
Heritage	National Register of Historic Places contributing property
First lit	1869
Deactivated	1969-2015
Focal height	7 m (23 ft)
Lens	Fifth order Fresnel (1897)[1] (original), LED (current)
Characteristic	F R
Baileys Harbor Range Rear Light
Rear range light
Coordinates	45°04′22″N 87°07′16″W[citation needed]
Constructed	1870
Foundation	Field stone
Construction	Wood
Automated	1930
Height	30 feet (9.1 m)[2]
Shape	Square, atop a house
Markings	White w/black and red markings
Heritage	National Register of Historic Places contributing property
First lit	1870
Deactivated	1969-2015
Focal height	36 feet (11 m)[3]
Lens	Fifth order Fresnel (original), LED (current)
Characteristic	directional mark
Baileys Harbor Directional Light
Foundation	Concrete
Construction	Metal skeleton tower with red/white/red dayboard[4]
Height	21 m (69 ft)
First lit	1969
Deactivated	2015
Focal height	21 m (69 ft)
Characteristic	White light Flashing every 2.5 seconds, with a higher intensity beam on a bearing of 340°[5][6]
Baileys Harbor Range Light
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
Show map of Wisconsin Show map of the United States
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[7]
Added to NRHP	September 21, 1989

History

The range lights replaced the Baileys Harbor Lighthouse in 1870 at a cost of $6,000.^[8] 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.^[8]

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 May 1, 2017.
2. Database of Tower Heights by Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light (Archived October 23, 2021)
3. Pepper, Terry. "Database of Focal Heights". Seeing the Light. terrypepper.com. Archived from the original on June 9, 2021.
4. Bailey's Harbor Range Lights in Lighthouse Resources: Historic Lighthouses & Light Stations, United States Coast Guard, October 21, 2019
5. Light List, Volume VII, Great Lakes (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard. 2014.
6. "Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society, Baileys Harbor Lower Front Range (Lake Michigan) Light ARLHS USA-936".
7. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
8. National Park Service, Maritime History Project, Inventory of Historic Light Stations - Wisconsin (Archived August 25, 2012)

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 April 2, 2022.
• 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.