Illinois Lighthouses - Chicago Crib Lighthouses

Four Mile Crib lighthouse. 2/23/2026 dwm

We've seen 149 lighthouses since 2013 on our trips around the Great Lakes of Superior, Michigan, Huron, and Erie. None of them were like these three, which were built with a different purpose in mind and needed a light to warn ships to keep their distance. 

 According to the history on Lighthouse Friends dot com, Chicago was incorporated in 1833 when 350 people called it home and used the Chicago River as a source of drinking water. By 1840, the city was ten times larger and the river was too dirty to drink.

In 1842, water was piped from 150-feet offshore to serve the fast-growing city, by 1860 the Chicago River was a cesspool and a significant number of citizens were dying of diseases like cholera and typhoid fever.

An engineer was hired in 1861 to come up with a plan. Ellis Cheesbrough called for building a pumping station two miles off-shore. A contract was signed in October 1863, the work started the next year. 

Four-Mile Crib. 2/23/26 dwm

Cribs were built with wood on-shore, then taken onto the lake where the foundation was submerged with rocks dropped between the walls. When the walls reached sea level, machinery pumped out the water and construction continued. The construction included digging a tunnel under the lake to Chicago.

The Two Mile Crib was first. It was followed by seven more along the Chicago shoreline. Only four crib-lighthouses remain: Four Mile (1891); 68th Street Crib (1892); Wilson Avenue Crib (1918); and William E Dever (1935). 

Four Mile Crib Lighthouse

 

You may have figured the second crib is two miles farther off-shore to better avoid the contaminants that continued to pollute the water supply. 

 

The Harbor light is on a breakwater. 2/23/26 dwm

 What might be shocking is that while the crib was built in 1891, it cost more than $1.5 million dollars. No, that's not adjusted for inflation. 

 

 This structure included a steam heating plant that kept the temperature at 70 degrees around the well, which allowed one keeper to maintain the lighthouse year-round. In looking up information about the Four Mile Crib, I came across this website which is advocating to save the decaying structure. 

 

 According to the website, no municipal money has gone into maintaining the lighthouse since 2017. The advocacy group hopes to halt the decay and eventually making it available for the public. 

  

Wilson Ave. Crib Light. 2/23/2026 dwm

Wilson Avenue Crib Lighthouse

 

I walked onto Navy Pier's north side, planning to first take pictures of the William E Dever Crib. But when I glanced to the left, I noticed something in the distance that looked like a ship. I knew there were two other cribs, one farther north, so I aimed my camera, just in case. I'm glad I did!

Work on this crib began in 1915, it's roughly three miles off-shore from Wilson Avenue, the road that gave the crib its name.

 

Wilson Ave. Crib. 2/23/2026 dwm

 Granite blocks protect the inner well chamber which is 45-feet in diameter. The light and a fog bell were set on the light in the fall of 1915 to protect the crib from ship traffic.

 

 The lantern initially was home to an acetylene (gas) light that could be seen 8 miles away, then changed to electricity. 

 

 When it was almost finished, the structure was found to be 18-inches out of plumb. Three hundred jacks were used to level the superstructure, which delayed it's opening until the of spring 1918. 

 

The Dever Crib is on the right. 2/23/2026 dwm

William E Dever Crib Lighthouse

 

The last of the cribs was built in 1935. It's named for William Emmett Dever,  Chicago's Mayor from 1924 - 27. It was built next to the Carter H. Harrison crib, built in 1900 to replace the original Two Mile Crib.

 

The Harrison crib was deactivated when the Dever Crib went online, but when the city needed more water it returned to service until one of its tunnels collapsed in 1998 and it was shut down.

 

The Dever Crib is one of two cribs still serving Chicago. It is 2.6 miles offshore.

 

The other is the Edward Dunne Crib, which is attached to the 68th Street Crib Lighthouse. The 68th Street Crib was built in 1892. Unfortunately, it was too far south to be in-range of it with my camera from Navy Pier. 

 

The Carter H Harrison (left) and William E Dever Crib (right). 2/23/2026 dwm photo  

The Harrison Crib and Dever Crib Lighthouse - 2.6 miles offshore. 2/23/2026 dwm