National Register of Historic Places
Kenosha North Pierhead Light
Kenosha vicinity, Kenosha County, Wisconsin
The record
- Listed
- June 24, 2008
- Type
- Structure
- Address
- North pier at Kenosha harbor entry, 0.1 mile east of Simmons Island Park, Kenosha vicinity
- County
- Kenosha
- State
- Wisconsin
- Period of significance
- 1900 to 1974
- Contributing resources
- 1 structure
- Coordinates
- 42.58886, -87.80852
- Reference number
- 08000545
USGS Historical Topographic Map CollectionUSGS Historical Topographic Map CollectionBarry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesBarry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries
The story
Written by AI from this property's National Register nomination and the record above; every sentence is checked against its sources before it appears here. Corrections: privacy@treealive.com
The Kenosha North Pierhead Light is a lighthouse on the north pier at the Kenosha harbor entrance, near Kenosha in Kenosha County. It was built in 1906 at the end of a 750-foot pier and designed by the Office of the Lighthouse Superintendent in Milwaukee.
Why it's listed
It was listed under criteria A and C, with local significance in maritime history, transportation, architecture and engineering. Its period of significance runs from 1906 to 1958, reflecting the light's construction in 1906.
Physical character
The tower is a slightly tapered, nearly cylindrical cast iron structure of eleven courses of plates on a reinforced concrete foundation, with a cast iron parapet wall, a conical cast iron roof, and an open-air lantern gallery reached by a curving cast iron staircase with open risers. Its fourth order Fresnel lens, brought from the Southport Lighthouse and first lighted in 1907, was electrified in 1925 and later replaced by a modern optic, and the light displays a 300-millimeter acrylic beacon.
Historical context
A timber beacon marked the north pier from 1856, and the Army Corps of Engineers rebuilt the piers in 1865; the present pier was built in 1899-1900 with wood pilings and stone-filled cribs before the light was added in 1906.