Wisconsin Lighthouses: A Photographic and Historical Guide

“Lighthouses are a reflection of the human spirit and a mirror to our past.”—from the Introduction

No symbol is more synonymous with Wisconsin’s rich maritime traditions than the lighthouse. These historic beacons conjure myriad notions of a bygone era: romance, loneliness, and dependability; dedicated keepers manning the lights; eerie tales of haunted structures and ghosts of past keepers; mariners of yesteryear anxiously hoping to make safe haven around rocky shorelines. If these sentinels could talk, imagine the tales they would tell of ferocious Great Lakes storms taking their toll on vessels and people alike.
In this fully updated edition of Wisconsin Lighthouses, Ken and Barb Wardius tell those tales, taking readers on an intimate tour of lighthouses on Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, and Lake Winnebago. Both delightful storytellers and accomplished photographers, the couple complement their engaging text with more than 100 stunning color photographs, along with dozens of archival photos, maps, documents, and artifacts. Detailed “how to get there” directions, up-to-the-minute status reports on each light, and sidebars on everything from lighthouse vocabulary to the often lonely lives of lightkeepers make this the definitive book on Wisconsin’s lighthouses.

Lifelong residents of Milwaukee, Ken and Barb Wardius travel nationally to pursue their hobbies of photography, history, hiking, bird study, and lighthouses, which first drew their interest at Door County’s picturesque Cana Island. Along with Wisconsin Lighthouses, Barb and Ken are the authors of Cana Island Lighthouse, Wind Point Lighthouse, and North Point Milwaukee Lighthouse. They are sought-after lighthouse lecturers and belong to many organizations dedicated to lighthouse preservation, including the Wisconsin Historical Society, the Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association, the United States Lighthouse Society, the Wisconsin Maritime Museum at Manitowoc, the Door County Maritime Museum, the Wisconsin Lighthouse District (WILD), the Friends of the Wind Point Lighthouse, North Point Lighthouse Friends, the Friends of Rock Island, and the Friends of Plum and Pilot Islands.