Lighthouse Voyage - Part 18

[Tannerman]

Port Washington Pier
Port Washington, WI - Lighthouse 14 of 15

It was time to head to the town hosting the final two lighthouses of our trip. Thus from Two Rivers we drove to Port Washington, WI, located just north of Milwaukee. Our destination: Port Washington Pier lighthouse.


Due to timing issues, we were viewing the two lighthouses in Port Washington out of historical sequence. This lighthouse, located on the breakwater pier, actually replaced another lighthouse that was set on top of a nearby hill. We visited that beacon after our time on the pier. Port Washington claims to be the first manmade harbor in the country.


The beacon prior to removal of the lantern room
Built with an Art Deco-style in 1934, Port Washington Pier possesses an arched concrete base that increases elevation. It also allowed boaters better visibility around the harbor. The top of the light originally contained a black lantern room with a fourth-order Fresnel lens, however this was removed some time back. Now a solar-powered beacon and foghorn sit atop the tower, causing it to look slightly out of balance.


Incidentally, the design of the Port Washington Pier lighthouse is identical to the Indiana Harbor East Breakwater, also built in 1935 and still possessing the original catwalk. Indiana doesn't have a lighthouse preservation group watching out for their lights. Perhaps because of this, the pierhead light at Calumet Harbor was demolished in 1995.


Port Washington itself is a very nice town, heavily targeted at tourism. There is a McDonalds located on the outskirts of town that actually has a lighthouse replica attached to it. It a very active harbor filled with many large yachts. One thing we did note on our walk out to the pierhead light was the unbelievable stench of dead fish. It was bad in a sickening sort of way. Totally seemed out of place given the nice town, so maybe it wasn't a common occurrence.


It was fun taking a photo of both of us at this lighthouse. The first time I set the timer, I thought the photo had taken, so I started running back to the camera. However, the camera actually took the photo as I was running. Amy noted this and we took another shot. Now we have one very funny photo of that first attempt!


Standing underneath the arches at the end of the pier was quite relaxing. The view was pretty awesome. But the sun was setting quick, and we had one more lighthouse to visit on our 3-day tour!

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