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| Sturgeon Bay Canal Pierhead 9/14/2019 dwm photo |
At that time, ships went to Green Bay by traveling up and around the Porte des Morts or Death's Door. An area that earned its name with rough seas and hazardous shallows.
The businessmen proposed digging east from where the bay ended to the big lake creating a shortcut where they could recoup their investment by collecting a toll from each ship.
The work meant a light was needed on a pier jutting into Lake Michigan so ships could make the western turn. The canal opened in 1880, but it was two more years before it was deep enough for large ships.
The Pierhead light was built in 1881, its lantern installed the next year.
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| The metal walkway was built in 1905. 9/14/2019 (dwm) |
Steam-powered fog horns were installed in buildings on the pier which could be heard 8 to 12 miles away. The horns were fired with coal. A new fog horn building and lighthouse was built at the end of the pier in 1903. That's the building on the job today.
Its a long walk from shore to the end of the pier where the catwalk jumps the water for the last 100 feet of the trip. While the elevated walk was safer than walking across the breakwater during harsh weather, it wasn't a cakewalk.
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| The Coast Guard declared the Pierhead light excess property in 2010. 9/14/2019 dwm photo |
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| Next week features the Ship Canal light. 9/14/2019 (dwm) |
While the lights are automated and replaced by modern technology, the station still serves as home for the Coast Guard.
The presence of the Coast Guard keeps the station, its two lights, and buildings in working order.
It isn't doing the work of the light keepers, but they continue serving and saving ships and their crew now like they did way back in 1882.
You can see more lighthouses by following the link.
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