Sand Island Light (Wisconsin)

Sand Island Light
Location	Sand Island, Wisconsin
Coordinates	47°00′11.91″N 90°56′14.72″W / 47.0033083°N 90.9374222°W
Tower
Foundation	Stone
Construction	Sandstone
Automated	1921
Height	42 feet (13 m)
Shape	Octagonal
Heritage	National Register of Historic Places contributing property
Light
First lit	1881
Deactivated	1933-1985
Focal height	56 feet (17 m)
Lens	Fourth order Fresnel lens (original), SeaLite LED Marine Lantern (current)
Range	9 nautical miles (17 km; 10 mi)
Characteristic	White, flashing, 6 s

The Sand Island Light is a lighthouse located on the northern tip of Sand Island, one of the Apostle Islands, in Lake Superior in Bayfield County, Wisconsin, near the city of Bayfield.

The Lighthouse Board chose to use a design that had been used on McGulpin Point Light in 1868; Eagle Harbor Light in 1871; and White River Light in 1875.^[4]

Currently owned by the National Park Service and part of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977, part of reference number 77000145. Listed in the Library of Congress Historic American Buildings Survey, WI-313.

Attached to the lighthouse is a Norman gothic keepers quarters.

History

In 1871, the Lighthouse Board asked Congress for funds to construct a lighthouse on Sand Island to both better guide ships toward the Raspberry Island Light and mark the Western edge of the Apostle Islands. However, Congress rejected the request for this and the next six years. In 1880, Congress finally agreed to erect a lighthouse, and sent an engineer to begin planning for the construction of the station. Sand Island Light was built from the same designs as three other lighthouses, but with the local Apostle Islands Brownstone instead of brick. The masons opened a hole for the cellar, and then began building the 26-by-30-foot (7.9 by 9.1 m) dwelling, and added the 44-foot-tall (13 m) tower in the Western corner of the structure. As the lighthouse neared completion, a fixed white Fourth Order Fresnel lens was placed in the lantern room. An acting keeper was appointed, and the light was first lit on September 25, 1881. The acting keeper, Charles Lederle, was appointed permanent keeper the next year.^[5]

Eventually, Lederle grew weary of the isolation that came with being the keeper of an island lighthouse and was reappointed the keeper of Two Harbors Light in Minnesota. The first assistant on nearby Outer Island, Emmanuel Luick, was offered the position of keeper at the Sand Island Light, and moved in with his wife Ella during January 1892. In 1901, Luick fell ill, leaving all duties at the lighthouse for Ella. Although she managed to do everything, the incident pointed out the dangers of having a single keeper on Sand Island. The Lighthouse Board authorized the addition of an assistant keeper and on May 22, 1902, Henry Irvine moved onto the island. In October 1903, Irvine was transferred to Devils Island. Luick appointed his wife as his acting assistant keeper, but the following day Edward Derry arrived on the island as the new assistant keeper. On April 30, 1904, Derry resigned, leaving Ella as acting assistant keeper once again. Ten days later, Frederick Hudson arrived on the island to take over as assistant keeper. On May 9, 1905, Ella boarded a steamer for nearby Bayfield and never returned to the island or her husband again.^[6]

Luick married again, this time to a woman named Oramill, and with her served the Sand Island Light for the next sixteen years. Over the course of that time, Luick went through twelve assistants, with the longest tenure being only two years. By the end of the 1910s, local shipping patterns had changing, and the Sand Island Light became less important. In 1921, the Lighthouse Board automated the tower, and Luick was reassigned to Grand Marais Light in Minnesota.^[7]

In 1933, the automated light was dismantled, and the Coast Guard constructed a 50-foot (15 m) steel tower in front of the lighthouse. The automated light was placed on top until 1985, when the light was placed back in the lighthouse and the tower was removed.^[8]

Getting there

Most of the Apostle Islands light stations may be reached on the Apostle Islands Cruise Service^[9] water taxi or by private boat during the summer. During the Annual Apostle Island Lighthouse Celebration^[10] ferry tour service is available for all the lighthouses. In the tourist season, volunteer park rangers are on many of the islands to greet visitors.^[11]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Light List, Volume VII, Great Lakes (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard. 2014.
^ Pepper, Terry. "Seeing the Light: Lighthouses on the western Great Lakes".
^ Draft Historic Structure Report/Cultural Landscape Report, Sand Island Light Station US National Park Service, Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, 2011.
^ Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light, Sand Island Light.
^ Tag, Phyllis. "Keepers of the Sand Island Lighthouse".
^ Mackreth, Bob. "Lighthouses of the Apostle Islands".
^ "Sand Island Light".
^ "Historic Light Station Information and Photography, Wisconsin".
^ Apostle Islands Cruise Service.
^ Apostle Island Lighthouse Celebration.
^ Wobser, David, La Pointe Light Archived 2009-01-07 at the Wayback Machine, boatnerd.com Originally in Great Laker Magazine.

External links

Aerial photos of Sand Island Light, Marina.com.
Library of Congress Historic American Buildings Survey Survey number HABS WI-313
Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Northern Wisconsin". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

[uscg7-1] Light List, Volume VII, Great Lakes (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard. 2014.

[2] Pepper, Terry. "Seeing the Light: Lighthouses on the western Great Lakes".

[3] Draft Historic Structure Report/Cultural Landscape Report, Sand Island Light Station US National Park Service, Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, 2011.

[4] Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light, Sand Island Light.

[5] Tag, Phyllis. "Keepers of the Sand Island Lighthouse".

[6] Mackreth, Bob. "Lighthouses of the Apostle Islands".

[7] "Sand Island Light".

[8] "Historic Light Station Information and Photography, Wisconsin".

[9] Apostle Islands Cruise Service.

[10] Apostle Island Lighthouse Celebration.

[11] Wobser, David, La Pointe Light Archived 2009-01-07 at the Wayback Machine, boatnerd.com Originally in Great Laker Magazine.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

v t e Apostle Islands
Islands	Madeline Island Stockton Island Gull Island Eagle Island Outer Island Oak Island Sand Island Basswood Island Bear Island Michigan Island Hermit Island Cat Island Otter Island Manitou Island Rocky Island Long Island Ironwood Island York Island Raspberry Island Devils Island South Twin Island North Twin Island
Lighthouses	Michigan Island Light Raspberry Island Light Outer Island Light Sand Island Light Devils Island Light Gull Island Light La Pointe Light Chequamegon Point Light Ashland Harbor Breakwater Light
Shipwrecks	Antelope Big Bay sloop City of Ashland D.R. Owen Lucerne Manistee Marquette Moonlight Noquebay Ottawa Pretoria R.G. Stewart Sevona Ira H. Owen T.H. Camp
Related historic sites	Hadland Fishing Camp Bass Island Brownstone Company Quarry La Pointe Indian Cemetery Manitou Camp Rocky Island Historic District Madeline Island Historical Museum
Protected designations	Apostle Islands National Lakeshore Big Bay State Park

v t e Lighthouses of Wisconsin
Main: List of lighthouses in the United States
Lake Superior	Ashland Harbor Breakwater Chequamegon Point Devils Island Gull Island La Pointe Michigan Island Outer Island Raspberry Island Sand Island Wisconsin Point
Lake Michigan	Algoma Baileys Harbor Baileys Harbor Range Cana Island Chambers Island Dunlap Reef Range Eagle Bluff Grassy Island Range Green Bay Harbor Entrance Green island Kenosha Kenosha North Pier Kevich Kewaunee Pierhead Long Tail Manitowoc Breakwater Milwaukee Breakwater Milwaukee Pierhead North Point Peshtigo Reef Pilot Island Plum Island Range Port Washington Port Washington Breakwater Pottawatomie Racine Harbor Racine North Breakwater Racine Reef Rawley Point Sheboygan Sherwood Point Sturgeon Bay Canal Sturgeon Bay Canal North Pierhead Two Rivers Wind Point
Lake Winnebago	Asylum Calumet Fond du Lac Neenah Rockwell
Historical (lost) lights	Dunlap Reef Range Front Manitowoc Main Manitowoc North Pierhead Plum Island Range Front Racine North Pierhead
Apostle Islands Lighthouses

v t e U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Topics	Architectural style categories Contributing property Historic district History of the National Register of Historic Places Keeper of the Register National Park Service Property types
Lists by state	List of U.S. National Historic Landmarks by state: Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
Lists by insular areas	American Samoa Guam Minor Outlying Islands Northern Mariana Islands Puerto Rico Virgin Islands
Lists by associated state	Federated States of Micronesia Marshall Islands Palau
Other areas	District of Columbia American Legation, Morocco
Related	National Historic Preservation Act Historic Preservation Fund List of jails and prisons on the National Register of Historic Places University and college buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places portal Category

Sand Island Light (Wisconsin)

History

Getting there

See also

References

Further reading

External links