You
can catch a fairly good, but distant view of the Chicago Harbor Lighthouse from
the city's famous Navy Pier. We managed to catch a closer glimpse of the tower
when we took a boat tour of the harbor, but the recent transfer of the light
tower's ownership from the U.S. Coast Guard to the City of Chicago offers hope
that the lighthouse may eventually become more accessible to public visitors.

The
ownership transfer occurred early this year and was the culmination of a
four-year process.
The
city reportedly has plans to open the lighthouse to the public with a museum. But
officials must first build a dock or other public access to the offshore light,
a project estimated as taking another two or three years.

Meanwhile,
it's possible to a decent photo of the Chicago Harbor Lighthouse by walking out
to the end of Navy Pier and using a long lens.
The
Chicago Harbor Lighthouse is the city's only remaining lighthouse (and one of
only two lighthouses in Illinois), but the city's location makes the lighthouse
particularly important in the history of Chicago and Great Lakes
transportation.
The
1800s saw Chicago Harbor become an important strategic military location and
shipping route, and the U. S. government authorized the construction of the
harbor's first lighthouse in 1832 to help guide the ever-increasing water
traffic.
Chicago
experienced rapid growth as the century progressed. The government decommissioned
the original Chicago Harbor Lighthouse in 1850, and two other lights appeared
at the harbor. Chicago became the country's busiest port as the main route
connecting the East Coast and the Gulf Coast via the Great Lakes.
Excitement
surrounding the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago brought many new
developments to the city, including the building of a new 48-foot lighthouse with
attached housing for the keepers near the site of the original tower.
The
lighthouse moved east of Navy Pier in 1917 to perch on a newly renovated
breakwater to guide traffic around it. Lighthouse renovations at the time of
the move included the addition of attached fog signal and boathouse buildings.
The lighthouse's roost atop the breakwater also increased its focal plane
height to eighty-two feet.
The
Coast Guard automated the lighthouse's red beacon in 1979 and retained its
third order Fresnel lens. Chicago Harbor Lighthouse earned a spot on the
National Register of Historic Places in 1984, earned designation as a Chicago
Landmark in 2003.

The
little green and white Chicago Harbor Southeast Guidewall light, built in 1938,
sits on the end of a pier just south of Navy Pier about a half mile from the
Chicago Harbor Lighthouse. It marks the entrance to the Chicago River, which in
turn, leads to the Mississippi River.

The
red-and-white painted William E. Dever Crib is about three miles off of the
Chicago River entrance on the opposite side of Navy Pier from the Southeast
Guidewall Light and the Chicago Harbor Lighthouse. Built in the 1930s, the
Chicago Department of Water Management owns it. The crib hosts a weather
station, as well as a webcam taking photos of downtown Chicago's skyline.

I
did get closer views of the lighthouse, the guidewall light and the crib when
we took that boat tour of the harbor, although taking a speedboat tour meant my
big DSLR had to spend most of the tour in a big plastic bag to protect it from
the water! I still managed to get this shot of the top of the tower, though.

© Dominique King 2009 All rights reserved
Everyone loves lighthouses. They're always a welcome thing to talk about and read about. Thank you for sharing this one! It almost looks like it has an island all its own. :)
Posted by: HonoluluSprite | January 02, 2010 at 11:02 PM
Honolulu-Thanks for stopping by! I love lighthouses, and plan to do more stories about Great Lakes lighthouses soon.
This particular lighthouse was interesting because it was so close to Chicago. You usually think of lighthouses as being in more remote locations. I'll also be interested to see if they finally open this one to the public. Lighthouses out in the water like this (and one in Ashtabula, Ohio, which they also are talking about opening to the public) are quite expensive to open and keep open--partly because they don't draw as many visitors paying a fee to visit as more easily accessible lighthouses on land.
Posted by: Dominique King | January 04, 2010 at 02:15 PM
Everyone loves lighthouses. They're always a welcome thing to talk about and read about.Thanks for information.
Posted by: Fog Light | January 28, 2010 at 02:40 AM