Wisconsin Lights - Grassy Island Range Lights

The Grassy Island Range Lights.  8/18/2019 dwm photo

Against a backdrop of a towering bridge over the Fox River where it empties into Green Bay, the Grassy Island Range Lights look small.

But in 1864, the idea of lights stood tall among experts in maritime navigation as a way to help ships enter the Fox River.

In 1872, after dredging created a proper channel next to Grassy Island, two lights were stationed on the same side of the river, 676 feet, 4 inches apart.

A view from the public boat
launch just north of the
lights.  8/18/19 (dwm) 

A seven foot difference in height helped captains pilot their ship by aligning their boat when they saw the two lights shine one above the other.

The lights served 94 years.  That's when the the need to create a wider and deeper shipping channel was nearly the end of the pair as the Coast Guard planned to demolish them.

The Green Bay Yacht Club offered a safe harbor in 1966 and the pair was moved to a club parking lot where they stood for years.  In 1998, they were moved closer together and placed on a breakwater on the river's east side.

Replica 6th order Fresnel lenses (the
smallest) were restored in 2004. (dwm)

All that remains of Grassy Island is a Pelican rookery and automated navigation light.

The lights are accessible, but require effort to find.  It's near the bay shore.  From downtown we drove north through blocks of industry; distribution centers, and docks on North Quincy before heading west on Bay Beach Road and into the Metro Boat Launch parking lot.

These lights were originally on the agenda as part of the first day of our fall vacation, but when the Ride Across Wisconsin finished on the Fox River just a few miles south of the lights we sought them out.

The lights are the only original lights surviving near the mouth of the Fox River.  The Long Tail Light northwest of these is in ruins.  The next closest, the Green Bay Harbor Entrance Light can only be seen by sea or by air.