The Chicago Harbor was once the busiest shipping port in the nation, hosting more boats in 1871 than the ports of Mobile, Charleston, Baltimore, San Francisco, New York and Philadelphia combined! Over 11 million tons of cargo passed through the harbor in 1889, skyrocketing the port to join the ranks of London, Hamburg and New York in terms of sheer magnitude and significance. 

All of which could not have been done without the diligent guard of Lake Michigan’s many lighthouses, each guiding ships of all shapes and sizes through the stormy waters and safely to shore. 

Here are the lighthouses that you can still see today just off the coast of Chicago!

The 8 remaining Chicago lighthouses

Waukegan Harbor Lighthouse 

The Waukegan Harbor Lighthouse has been guiding ships into Waukegan Harbor since 1889. The initial lighthouse was built just in time for a boom in shipping activity as Waukegan became more and more popular as a port city, and so it wasn’t long before that first little lighthouse just wasn’t enough for the bustling activity of the busy harbor. 

The lighthouse grew and evolved along with Waukegan. In the early 1900s, the pier was extended and the lighthouse had to be moved further out into the water. Later, in 1905, a fog signal building was added to aid navigation in low visibility conditions. Unfortunately, a fire in 1967 severely damaged the structure, destroying the lantern room and fog signal. 

Despite the setback, the sturdy cast-iron tower remained intact. Later the lighthouse was modernized with a new light, and it operates with a flashing green beacon that guides Lake Michigan’s mariners to this day!

Grosse Point Lighthouse

This Evanston lighthouse was petitioned for after a series of shipping accidents occurred in the stormy waters off Grosse Point in the 1860s, the most deadly of which involved a lumber schooner crashing into a passenger-laden steamship on the night of September 7, 1860. The ship sank and almost 300 people drowned, making it the most deadly disaster to befall a ship on Lake Michigan up to that point.

It wasn’t until 1870 that development for a new lighthouse began on the shores of Grosse Point, and on March 1, 1874, the French-made second-order Fresnel lens lit up for the first time in the 133-foot-tall brick lighthouse. 

There’s a great deal of history and significance surrounding this lighthouse, which is probably why it was the first Great Lakes lighthouse listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a designated National Historic Landmark!

The second-order Fresnel lens is the largest type used on the Great Lakes and the only one still in use today. According to local accounts and newspapers, the lens was one of three that were brought over to the United States from France in the 1860s, costing a whopping $10,000 each! They were so valuable that two of the lenses were buried in Florida during the Civil War in order to protect them from harm — when they were dug up following the conflict, one of them was sent to Grosse Point Lighthouse!

Though used only as a private navigation aid today, the Grosse Point Lighthouse was once one of the most important lighthouses on the shores of Lake Michigan. Over 12,000 vessels used Grosse Point Lighthouse in 1871 as a beacon to guide them from the open waters to the land, from where they would navigate along the shore to the port of Chicago. 

Crib lighthouses

Between 1863 and 1935, eight cribs were built off Chicago’s shore in Lake Michigan, their construction stemming from Chicago's need for cleaner water in the mid-19th century when the city’s population boomed. Back then, Lake Michigan was the source of the city’s drinking water and, with more people and more industry sprouting up on the waters’ shores, the water was becoming increasingly polluted with sewage, waste and diseases like cholera, typhoid and dysentery.

One solution was to reverse the flow of the Chicago River, and another was to construct several key cribs a few miles off shore in the lake. 

Cribs served as an intake point for water filtration, drawing water from a location farther away from the city's pollution. To mark the new cribs during construction and to warn ships of the potential hazard, the city built lighthouses atop each crib and employed keepers to care for the structures. 

Although eight cribs were built in total, only a few still remain; the cribs below are the ones that still have a lighthouse on them!

• Wilson Avenue Crib Lighthouse: This short, round structure built in 1918 is about two miles east of Montrose Point out in Lake Michigan. 
• William E. Denver Crib Lighthouse: This lighthouse and crib were built to replace the neighboring Carter H. Harrison crib in 1935, making this Park West-adjacent crib the last of the city’s water cribs to be constructed. 
• Four Mile Crib Lighthouse: As per the name, this crib is the furthest off shore of all the cribs in Chicago, as it had to avoid all the pollution feeding into the lake from the Chicago River. It was built in 1891, just a year before the work on reversing the Chicago River began. 
• 68th Street Crib Lighthouse: Built in 1892, this lighthouse and crib is just a few miles off the coast of Jackson Park and the Museum of Science and Industry.

Chicago Harbor Lighthouse

Built in 1893, this familiar red-and-white lighthouse wasn't always in its current location at Navy Pier. Instead, it was originally constructed for the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893, a global event showcasing the invention, innovation and industry of scientists and creators from all over the world. The lighthouse served as a symbol of Chicago's growing importance as a transportation hub, with its waterways connecting the East Coast to the Great Lakes and beyond.

After the Exposition, the lighthouse was moved to its permanent home on the breakwater in 1919, where it played a crucial role in guiding ships into the busy Chicago Harbor for decades afterward. The lighthouse was even equipped with a fog signal room and boathouse to aid navigation in challenging conditions!

Today, the Chicago Harbor Lighthouse remains active, its automated light beam continuing to guide vessels into the city. Though no longer housing a lighthouse keeper, it stands as a testament to Chicago's maritime past and a picturesque landmark on the city's shoreline. Efforts are currently underway to restore the lighthouse and potentially convert it into a museum, ensuring its century-old story lives to shine a light on Chicago for another hundred years to come.

Chicago Harbor Southeast Guidewall Lighthouse

The Chicago Harbor Southeast Guidewall Lighthouse, though a much smaller companion to the more famous Chicago Harbor Lighthouse, still plays a vital role in navigation on the Chicago River. Built in 1938, it arose from a Supreme Court ruling in 1930 that mandated Chicago to reduce the amount of water diverted from Lake Michigan, necessitating a lock system at the river's mouth. The Southeast Guidewall Lighthouse was constructed to direct ships safely into this new Chicago Harbor Lock, and it’s been standing there ever since!

Next time you’re exploring the shore around our luxury Chicago apartments, keep an eye out for these lighthouses that have been silent sentinels for over a hundred years! 

Enjoy!

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Featured photo by Deborah L Carlson on Unsplash