RACINE BREAKWATER LIGHTHOUSE-RACINE, WISCONSIN

                                           Racine Pierhead Light on south shore in 1914-Photograph courtesy U.S. Coast Guard

  In 1901, the Lighthouse Board decided the old Racine Harbor Lighthouse should be discontinued, and its fourth-order Fresnel lens placed in a new metal tower to be erected at the end of the north pier. After a concrete foundation was created on the pierhead, a skeletal steel tower was put in place and first lighted on November 23, 1901. The twelve-foot-square, enclosed portion of the tower was lined with wood and stood seventeen-and-a-half feet above the pier, while the entire structure measured forty-five feet nine inches from base to ventilator ball. A 960-foot-long elevated walkway provided access to the tower, which was initially painted white, save its black lantern room. This new light and the breakwater light could be aligned for entering the harbor. A 1,500-pound fog bell was mounted on brackets attached to the eastern face of the metal tower. The machinery for striking the bell was housed in the lower floor of the tower, from where a fourteen-inch galvanized iron weight drop tube extended down to the pier.  In 1904, the post light on the breakwater was covered in metalwork to create a hexagonal pyramidal tower that resembled an inverted funnel. The light from this structure commenced operation on December 23, 1904. While the detached breakwater at Racine improved conditions in the harbor somewhat, vessels moored there were still tossed about during storms. On March 3, 1907, Congress adopted a project to create arrowhead breakwaters at Racine by extending the detached breakwater to the shore and constructing a southern breakwater. The piers would then be removed so that waves entering the breakwaters could expand within the entire enclosed area. Extension of the northern breakwater began in 1907, but the southern breakwater was deferred until it was determined if it would still be needed after the northern breakwater was completed. In 1912, the northern breakwater finally reached the shore. The square, metal tower was removed from the north pier and installed near the outer end of the south pier, where it started showing a white flashing light on May 29, 1912. In 1916, bids were invited for constructing the southern breakwater and removing the south pier. 1,515 feet of the breakwater were completed by 1919, but due to the effects of war, the removal of the south pier and the construction of the pile pier to connect the south breakwater to shore were temporarily deferred. An acetylene light was established atop a thirty-one-a-half-foot standard steel tower on the outer end of the southern breakwater in 1918. Bids for completing the southern breakwater were received in 1922, and the work began early in 1923. The square metal tower was transferred from the south pier to the breakwater in 1924 and an air diaphone fog signall was installed. When the square, metal breakwater light was discontinued in 1987, the citizens of Racine fought to keep the structure from being razed. This tower has been floodlit at night, but a metal pole now serves as the official light for the north breakwater.


 (Note: Quality of photographs were greatly weather affected by continuous rain while taking the photographs.)