Illinois Lights - Grosse Point

The keeper's house in front of the Grosse Point lighthouse.

 Considering how close we are to Illinois it took a while before we took a trip to see a few of their lighthouses.

 

 Unlike the lights we've seen so far, the complication is finding them in a city the size of Chicago.

 

 This one, Grosse Point, was easy with land open to the public and parking spaces.  The Harbor light in Waukegan was easy to find and park as well.  Of the six still waiting to be checked, my go-to reference website, Lighthousefriends.com, indicates four of them are best seen with a plane or boat.

Looking at the light from beach-side.

Originally, I was hoping to go in the lighthouse and keeper's home but the buildings aren't open to the public until June and then its restricted to six limited tours each weekend. 

I didn't like the odds, instead I grabbed the camera and took pictures from the grounds which was open to the public.  I was glad to be able to shoot from the beach, the side and front of the historic light.

Grosse Point was the name given to the spot where land juts into Lake Michigan by explorer Louis Jolliet and Father Jacques Marquette, a Jesuit missionary traveling with him in 1673.

The lantern room at the Point.

 The need for a lighthouse was made evident when a steamer collided with another boat, killing 400 people.  Work began at Grosse Point in 1872, the light turned on March 1, 1874.

 Electricity came to the lighthouse in 1923.  By 1934 a sensor was installed to turn it off and on automatically eliminating the need for active light keeping operations.  One year later the house and grounds became property of the Lighthouse Park District.

 The light stands just north of the Northwestern University campus in Evanston, Illinois.  The light towers over the residential neighborhood.  Just north of the light is a small parking lot with access to the keeper's house and beach.  There is a kiosk in the parking lot that collects parking fees.

 The house and tower are open weekends from June through September for tours on Saturday and Sunday at 2, 3, and 4 pm.  The lighthouse grounds are beautiful with native flowers and the beach reaching into the backyard.  The grounds are open year-round.

View from beach.

The light was designed by engineer and Civil War hero Orlando Poe whose designs were used for many lights and also designed and supervised construction of the locks at Sault Ste Marie.

 

Grosse Point Lighthouse

 

Built: 1872

Height: 113 feet

Light on: March 1, 1874

Electrified: 1923

Automated: 1934 

All photos by David Mossner, 5/27/2023