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Postcards of Wisconsin lighthouses
 Wisconsin Lighthouses
Lighthouses serve two fundamental functions: to warn sailors of danger and to guide ships into harbors. The first lighthouse on record was built on the island of Pharos in Alexandria, Egypt, around 290 BC. Lighthouses came to North America in the 18th century, as intensive maritime interests coupled with a fierce Northeastern climate necessitated the construction of lighthouses--so important were these beacons that the establishment of The United States Lighthouse Service was one of the first acts of the new federal government in 1789. Wisconsin's first government lighthouse was built in 1836 on Pottwatomie Island at the entrance to Green Bay. Many more were constructed throughout the nineteenth century. Door County has more lighthouses than any other county in the United States. These postcards provide information on four Wisconsin lighthouses.
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Related Topics: |
Immigration and Settlement
Great Lakes Steamships and Canals |
| Creator: | Various |
| Pub Data: | Engineering Collections. National Museum of American History. |
| Citation: | "Wisconsin Lighthouses." Engineering Collections. National Museum of American History;
Online facsimile at:
http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/lighthouses/browse_regi
on.cfm?state=WI;
Visited on: 11/22/2009
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