Rock Island State Park
The Potawatomi Lighthouse

The Pottawatomie light, on a high bluff at the northern tip of Rock Island, dates from 1836, before Wisconsin became a state.

The Potawatomi Lighthouse
DNR Photo by Princely Nesadurai

Many of Wisconsin's settlers from Europe came by Great Lakes steamships in those days before railroads and highways in the territory. Without the radar or global positioning sattelites (GPS) available today, the ships risked crashing into rocky points or running aground.

Ship owners petitioned the U.S. Congress, and the government set aside land for a light on Rock Island. The Pottawatomie light was the first of many lighthouses erected at key points along Wisconsin's Great Lakes shorelines.

The 1836 structure was demolished in the late 1850s and the existing lighthouse was first lit in 1858. The lamp produced a steady white light visible for 14 nautical miles.

The lighthouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

The Friends of Rock Island spearheaded efforts to preserve and restore the lighthouse.

Friends of Rock Island [exit DNR]

For more information about Rock Island, ask Kirby Foss, park manager, Rt. 1, Box 118A, Washington Island, WI 54246-9728, phone(920) 847-2235.