From the President

JANUARY 2020 www.RLAMPS.org From the President

Hello RLAMPS members! As we look to the 2020 year, we are thankful to have such valued and cherished members. Thank you for supporting our mission of preservation through education. RLAMPS couldn’t have had such a wonderful year without your support. What a great November Education Night we had with Ron Lutrell! Thank you to the hearty folks who came to learn about the history of Model Ship Building! Since there have been so many compliments about this program, we are hoping to do an educational outreach project using Ron’s presentation! Details to follow when they are confirmed. Speaking of Education Nights, we have completed our bookings for 2020. We are looking forward to presenting some fascinating programs and are honored these experts can take time to share their expertise with us! Our first Education Night of 2020 features Caitlin Zant on Feb. 4th (yes, a Tuesday this time). Caitlin is a maritime archeologist from the Wisconsin Historical Society. The program is entitled Maritime Archaeology and Shipwrecks of Southeast Wisconsin. It will be a fascinating presentation. We will again be at Dewey’s (they are so generous to host us!) at 6:30 PM. Please RSVP to: 262-639-8135 (voice only- there will be no return calls) or [email protected]. As usual there is no charge for members and a nominal $5 fee for non-members. By the way, we are still accepting 2019-2020 membership dues if you or others may have missed our prior membership forms. Membership forms are available on our website rlamps.org. We have updated our mailing list to include only members so you may want to check with friends who have been attending as nonmembers to be sure they are aware of the Feb. 4th program. In addition to the presentation, we will be selling some of our Wind Point Lighthouse wares so please bring cash or checks! Please join us!! Happy New Year and thank you, our members, for supporting RLAMPS! Without you there is no us!

Sincerely, Laura (Lauri) Tomasek

Laura (Lauri) Tomasek Racine Lighthouse and Maritime President, Friends of the Wind Point Lighthouse dba Preservation Society Racine Lighthouse and Maritime Preservation Society (RLAMPS)

Local Programs of Interest to our Members: Feb 29th to March 1st OUR WORLD UNDERWATER & CHICAGO DIVE AND TRAVEL EXPO-Marriott O' Hare Hotel and Convention Center. For more information: http:// ourworldunderwater.com/ Board of Directors — Racine Lighthouse and Maritime Preservation Society President Lauri Tomasek Directors: Secretary Marilyn Blood Bill Frank, Newsletter Linda Frank Treasurer Juanita Clobes Bob Jaeck, Historian Ron Luttrell Lynne Jossart, Membership Upcoming Education Night: Join Rlamps in welcoming Caitlin Zant to Racine on Tuesday, February 4, 2020. Caitlin will present Maritime Archaeology and Shipwrecks of Wisconsin. Caitlin’s presentation will dive into the history hidden beneath the waves and will explore some of Wisconsin’s 700 Great Lakes shipwrecks through underwater video, historic photos and archaeological discoveries. This is a unique opportunity to hear about these wrecks first hand from the Wisconsin Historical Society’s Maritime Archaeologist. In her 6 years at the Historical Society, Caitlin has been involved with over 35 archaeological projects, and has assisted in nominating 20 shipwrecks to the National and State Register of Historic Places. RSVP to: [email protected] or call 262-639-8135 and leave a message. Future Education Nights Programs: May 4, 2020 — Cal Kathrade will present on the Shooting Shipwrecks. September 8, 2020 — On the anniversary of the Lady Elgin tragedy, M. Paul Hollander will present on the surprising events leading to it and the impact it had on people in the aftermath. November 12, 2020 — Barb and Ken Wardius will present on “Lighthouses of Racine—Past and Present.”

2 Lighthouses of Door County By Bill Frank Photos by Author unless noted The most famous lighthouse in Door County is the Cana Island lighthouse. If that is the only lighthouse you visit while in Door County, you are missing a number of beautiful and easily accessible lighthouses. There are 11 lighthouses in Door County. Of these 7 are easily accessible or viewable. One lighthouse is on private land and difficult to view except from the water and 3 are on islands only accessible by boat. This article will guide you to some of the best views of the 7 easily accessible/viewable lighthouses. Before you cross the bridge into the heart of Door County at Sturgeon Bay, turn south onto County U (Clay Banks Road). Travel 2 miles and turn left onto Lake Lane. You are heading to the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal Nature Preserve. There are two trailhead parking areas. I went to the second one at the end of the road. There are trails that will provide you with a great view of both the Pierhead Light and the Tower Light located at the Coast Guard station. You can also visit the Coast Guard station, but I Sturgeon Bay Canal Station Light Tower and think the better Sturgeon Bay Pierhead Light Coast Guard Station views are from across the channel. See for more information: https:// www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=255 A third light that is south of the ship channel is the Sherwood Point Lighthouse. The lighthouse and grounds are normally not open to the public, but you can see and take pictures from public land nearby. This is a rest and recuperation facility for the military, so please respect their privacy. To see Sherwood Point, from Wis 42 go north on S. Duluth Ave (Walgreens on the corner) about a mile to County C (W. Elm St.), go left for about 3 miles to County M. Take a right on M and follow M for about 4 and a half miles to E. Sherwood Point Road. Left on Sherwood Point Road and proceed for about .3 mile to the lighthouse. You can view and take pictures from the road. This lighthouse is open to the public during twice yearly lighthouse tours to benefit the Door County Maritime Museum & Lighthouse Preservation Society (typically the second weekend in June and October – 2020 dates have not been announced). Their website is www.dcmm.org. For more information about the Sherwood point Lighthouse see: https://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=636 Sherwood Point Lighthouse From Public Property

3 (Continued on page 4) There are three lights near Bailey’s Harbor. Drive on to Bailey’s Harbor using Wis 57. The Bailey’s Harbor Range Lights and the old Bailey’s Harbor Light are located on Ridge Rd. Turn right on Ridge Rd shortly after passing the Town Marina. The Range Lights will be on the left about a quarter mile after you turn on Ridge Rd. The lower Range light is very close to the road and located in The Ridges Sanctuary. The upper light is visible and farther back and in the park. You can walk back to the upper light. There may be a trail fee for Bailey’ Harbor Range Lights visiting the upper light. See https://www.ridgessanctuary.org/ for more information. The original Bailey’s Harbor light is on a private island near the entrance to Bailey’s Harbor. After the Range lights, continue driving on Ridge Rd. It becomes unpaved and near the end there is a place to park. You may only be able to see the top of the unique “bird cage” light, depending on the height of the trees. For more information see: http://www.terrypepper.com/Lights/michigan/baileysold/baileysold.htm The last light near Bailey’s Harbor is Cana Island Light. Go back on Ridge Rd to WIs 57 and go north to County Q. Turn right on Q and go about 2 Old Bailey’s Harbor and a half miles to Cana Island Rd. Task a Bird Cage Photo by Barb & sharp right onto Cana island Rd and follow it Ken Wardius to the parking lot. In the summer Cana Island is very popular and the lot is small. You will need to walk on a causeway to get to Cana Island and get a good view of the light. Due to high lake levels the causeway may be covered with water at certain times. Last season they offered tractor rides across the causeway due to high lake levels. The grounds are open from May to October. See http://www.dcmm.org/cana-island- lighthouse/ Leaving Bailey’s Harbor, drive north on WIS 57 to Sister Bay. If you want to visit the Pottawatomie Light in Rock Island State Park, turn right on WIS 42 to the ferry slip at Gills Rock. Cana Island Lighthouse Take the car ferry to Washington Island. From the ferry you may be able to see the Rear Range Tower of the Plum Island Range Lights on your right as you go to Washington Island. You will have to drive across Washington Island to the North East corner to get the Rock Island Ferry. This is a people only ferry that will Plum Island Rear Range take you to Rock Island. The light is a short walk from the ferry landing. Tower There are fees for the ferries and the ferry to the State Park operates Photos by Barb & Ken Wardius only in the summer and early fall (Memorial Day to Columbus Day). See

4 (Continued on page 5) https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/parks/name/rockisland/lighthouse.html The last easily viewable light is the Eagle Bluff Light. This is located in Peninsula State Park off of WIS 42 between Fish Creek and Ephraim. There is a fee to enter the park and the lighthouse is open for tours from the end of May to mid-October. Because this lighthouse is in the park, it is very popular and can be crowded in the summer Pottawatomie Light months. See Photo by Barb & Ken Wardius https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/parks/name/peninsula/lighthouse.html The last lights in Door County, the Front Plum Island Range Light, the Pilot Island Lighthouse and the Chambers Island Lighthouse, are not easily viewable without a boat. Even Eagle Bluff Lighthouse without seeing these three, viewing the other lights, along with all the other Door County activities will make for an enjoyable trip. For more information about these lighthouses see: https://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=641, https://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=640 and https://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=638. In addition, there is a nice map and description of the lighthouses at: https://www.doorcounty.com/experience/lighthouses/ and https://cpd.typepad.com/doorcountystock/images/DoorCountyLighthouseMapDCCC.pdf

RLAMPS has received a license to a number of historic images related to the Racine Reef Lighthouse. Watch for more photo previews in our newsletter, on our Facebook page, as well as our website.

Chopping Winter Ice on Reef Lighthouse

Photograph by Richardt Hansen Property of Sandra Cornell, used under license agreement with RLAMPS. All other rights reserved by owner.

RLAMPS P.O. Box 044067 Racine, WI 53404

RLAMPS Highlights

November 7, 2019 Education Night — Our own Ron Luttrell presented a fascinating program on the history and use of Ship Models throughout the Centuries. We learned that models have been used to estimate cost, test stability, for special effects in movies and in religious settings We also learned the disastrous result when ships are built without a model.

Thank you to those who have renewed their membership. For those of you who haven’t, there’s still time! Please visit our website www.RLAMPS.org. Or mail your membership form, along with your check, to: Please visit our updated website Friends of the Wind Point Lighthouse www.RLAMPS.org More and more Racine Treasurer, P. O. Box 44067, Racine, WI maritime history is being added on a regular 53404-7001. basis.