Located just outside Baileys Harbor, Wisconsin, on Ridges drive,
the Range Lights were used to guide ships into Baileys Harbor.
The Nature Center provides a visible public entrance to the Sanctuary.
It features a full exhibit, focusing on the cultural and natural history of The Ridges
and is the first LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design ) certified commercial building in Door County.
It received its LEED Gold certification in 2017.
(http://www.ridgessanctuary.org/visit-us/cook-albert-fuller-nature-center/)
In 1935, permission was granted to the Door County Park Commission to use the lighthouse acreage, except for the land immediately surrounding the two range lights, as a park. A few years later, the commissioners decided to clear some of the land for use as a trailer park. Led by Albert Fuller, Curator of Botany at the Milwaukee Public Museum, residents of Baileys Harbor and the surrounding area joined together and formed The Ridges Sanctuary in 1937 to stop the development and preserve the unique terrain.
(http://www.ridgessanctuary.org/visit-us/range-lights/)
Built in 1870 at a cost of $6,000, the range lights are identical to the Presque Isle Range Lights on Lake Huron which were built the same year.
(http://lighthouse.boatnerd.com/gallery/michigan/BaileysHarborRanges.htm)
Rear Range Light
The rear light was held in a square wooden tower atop the keeper's dwelling located 950 feet behind the front light.
The rear light was 35-feet high and had a range of 13 miles.
The rear light also held a Fifth Order Fresnel lens.
The structure appears to be similar to an old schoolhouse.
The Upper Range Light and its companion Lower Range Light
are the only lighthouses of this design that are still on range and functional as navigational aids. These modest but enduring structures played a critical role in the history of Baileys Harbor
and in the founding of The Ridges.
At the time they were built, the Range Lights were considered
a more effective way to keep ships off the treacherous reefs
and shallows at the entrance to Baileys Harbor.
From the water, a sailor got “on range” by vertically aligning
the white light in the Upper Range Light,
which shone at a height of 39 feet above the water,
with the Lower Range Light’s red beacon, fixed at 22 feet above the water.
Front Range Light
The front light is an octagonal wooden tower 21-feet high and had a range of 11 miles.
The tower held a Fifth Order Fresnel lens which was removed
after the lights were deactivated in the 1960's.
Deer in the Sancturay along the boardwalk.
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