Winnebago Lighthouses - Pt. 2

Kimberly Point Lighthouse, Neenah, WI
dwm photo

The lighthouse at Kimberly Point sits at the junction of where the Fox River flows into Lake Winnebago from the north.

The Kimberly family, who started a paper company which evolved into personal products (diapers etc.) made in Neenah, built the beauty.

The family gave back to the community, and in 1929, the daughter of the company's founder gave land to the city's park system.

Ten years later, the family built a functioning lighthouse which dazzles still today.

Top of the Light
dwm photo

My visit found the house at its brightest, gleaming in the morning sun and framed by the park's green and lake's blue water.

Just using two of the photos from the visit isn't enough - there's no doubt you'll see more of this beacon in the months and years to come.

In addition to local and state attention and recognition about its origin and heritage, it's a light on a lake with a national reputation too.

The lighthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.

Next on the light tour was to the south along the west side of Winnebago to an area between Neenah and Oshkosh - the Asylum Point Lighthouse.

Asylum Point Lighthouse
dwm photo

The directions (here's a link to lights in Wisconsin) took us right to it, a mile south of the Winnebago Mental Health Institute.

In the 1870s, the center was called an asylum.  The geography kept the name, hence Asylum Bay and Asylum Point - home to the light.

It's pretty.  A sturdy, yet delicate looking tower ready to guide boaters to their refuge in a storm.

The story relayed by the website says it was built in 1937 as a Depression era effort by the Works Progress Administration.

This tower is merely for decoration since the Department of Transportation rejected it as a navigation light.

It was never lit.

Thankfully, it survived and was refurbished in 2007.

Can you see the lighthouse? (dwm)

The lighthouse survives, but the bridge across part of the bay needs some help.

Moving lake ice rammed the wood supports holding the bridge, so it is off-kilter and closed.

Which is too bad, because the grassy finger which hosts the light is remarkable and peaceful.  The brick work is wonderful.

Bray's Point Lighthouse (dwm)

Bray's Point is the sixth light on the lake, near downtown Oshkosh across from a marina.

William Bray, elected to Wisconsin's Senate in 1914, bought several parcels of land close to where the south branch of the Fox River flows into the lake.

It was a rural area then.  Now it's a beautiful neighborhood with amazing homes.

Mr. Bray built a harbor for his boats.  Then a lighthouse.

It's difficult to imagine the splendor on display in the very early days of the 20th century, but President Taft was a guest of his in 1911.

The current owner is more private.  The intersection of two streets is as close as I got to the light.  Since it was June, leaves hid most of it.

Bray's Point hidden light
dwm photo

Trying to be resourceful, I went across the river to a nearby Marina and received permission to take pictures of the elusive light house from there.

Foiled again - the light is to the right of the large tree in the photo, but still hidden from view.  My suggestion for a closer look is returning to the website for a better look.