Description
A Historic Maritime Treasure
The North Point Lighthouse, located at 2650 N. Wahl Avenue within Lake Park is a historic, maritime "treasure." It has recently been restored to its early 20th century charm through the determined efforts of a group of committed volunteers, the North Point Lighthouse Friends.
With completion of the restoration of the Keepers Quarters in the fall of 2007, this historic site is open to the public for tours and visits. Located in Lake Park, one of Milwaukee's first public parks, the North Point Light Station is one of the oldest structures built and still standing in the now-urban area.
For more than a century, beginning in 1855, the North Point Lighthouse stood tall, overlooking the water and beaming out its light to protect and guide ships and watercraft. Keepers and their families lived and worked at the North Point Light Station, ensuring that the bright light was broadcast through fair weather and foul. It symbolizes a time in our history when waterways were the highways between cities. Lighthouses facilitated water travel and commerce on Lake Michigan, throughout the Great Lakes and beyond.
Each year, visitors are drawn to the beauty and historical significance of Lake Park and Milwaukee's East Side vintage neighborhoods. The park itself is a remarkable jewel that was conceived in the late 1890s by Frederick Law Olmsted. Olmsted, the designer of New York's Central Park and the 1893 Chicago Exposition, was one of the 19th century's foremost American landscape architects.
The North Point Light Station consists of a 74-foot lighthouse tower and two and a half story wood-frame Keeper's Quarters. It is an integral part of Lake Park and is located on a two-acre semi-wooded parcel in the heart of Lake Park. This area is nestled between two ravines extending to Lake Michigan. This iconic structure played an important role in the region's maritime trade and economic growth for more than 120 years, where it remained in use until being decommissioned in 1994. The Fresnel lens returns to the keeper's quarters gallery on loan from the US Coast Guard in May 2009.
