Milwaukee Breakwater Light, Navigational lighthouse in Milwaukee Harbor, United States
Milwaukee Breakwater Light is a concrete lighthouse on the north breakwater of Milwaukee Harbor, marking the harbor entrance. The tower has a steel shaft topped with a square balcony and a round cast iron lantern room, rising about 52 feet (16 m) above the water.
The lighthouse was built in 1926 to guide ships safely into Milwaukee Harbor. It was automated in 1966 and has run without a keeper ever since.
The light is also known as Harbor Light and still functions as an active navigation aid for vessels entering the harbor today. From the shore, visitors can see how the tower fits naturally into the working harbor scene around it.
The tower sits on the breakwater and is best seen from the shoreline near East Erie Street, where there is a public parking area. A boat trip gets you closer, but the view from land is already clear and unobstructed.
The tower was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2011 while still in active use, with no visitor facilities of its own. This makes it one of the relatively few working lighthouses in the country to hold that designation at the same time.
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