Milwaukee Breakwater Light
By Dave Wobser

Located on the end of the breakwater, on Lake Michigan, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to mark the harbor entrance. The breakwater protects the entrance to the Milwaukee River.

Built in 1926, the steel frame white two-story building, with square tower on top, contains a Fourth Order Fresnel lens thought to have been taken from the pierhead light. The helical barred lantern is also thought to have come from the pierhead light.

The tower is 53-feet tall overall and the red light has a focal plane of 61-feet above Lake Michigan. The structure sits on a 60' x 54’ concrete pier that rises more than 20-feet above the water. The tower rises 14-feet above the second floor of the dwelling.

The best place to view this light is from the parking lot at the end of East Erie Street, adjacent to the Milwaukee Pierhead Light.

Click on image to enlarge

Photograph by Dave Wobser