Indiana Harbor East Breakwater Light
Encyclopedia
The Indiana Harbor East Breakwater Light is an active aid to navigation that marks the end of a breakwater
on the east side of the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal
where it enters Lake Michigan
.
's southern boundary should be a line drawn from the southern tip of Lake Michigan
east to Lake Erie
. Due to errors of cartography
, Lake Michigan was charted further north than it really is. This error put Toledo, Ohio
and the Maumee River
mouth in Ohio. This was one of the bones of contention involved in the “Toledo War
”, which was only resolved by Act of Congress
, and the related award of the Upper Peninsula to Michigan. All of this had an indirect effect on Indiana's northern border, which now encompassed the southern tip of Lake Michigan.
Indiana Harbor was constructed over several years, beginning in 1901, and this included a breakwater paralleling the east edge of the channel where it enters the lake. In 1914 responsibility for the waterway and its facilities was assumed by the Corps of Engineers
, and there is some indication that the Corps erected a lighthouse on the breakwater in 1920; however, information on its construction is lacking.
On 26 March 1901, Inland Steel Company
contracted with Lake Michigan Land Company. It accepted fifty acres of dune land near East Chicago and a promise that a harbor and railroad would be built, in consideration of a promise to build a steel plant there that would cost no less than one million dollars. For $500,000, Inland Steel divested itself of Inland Iron and Forge Company, and raised another $500,000 to fund the project.
During 1901 and 1902, Indiana Harbor was dredged and a breakwater
built. In 1903, work began on a canal that would eventually linking the Indiana Harbor inland to both the Grand Calumet River and Lake George. Over the next several years, many industries were established there.
In 1914, the federal government assumed responsibility for Indiana Harbor and the canal. The first lighthouse was constructed in the harbor in 1920. The current light was erected in 1935, and is identical to the better known Port Washington Breakwater Light
in Wisconsin. It is an Art Deco
steel tower standing on a circular pier at the tip of the breakwater. The original lantern, which housed a fourth order Fresnel lens
(1 second flash every 7.5 seconds), has been removed and replaced by a modern beacon with a characteristic of three seconds on followed by three seconds off.
It is one of a dozen past or present lighthouses in Indiana.
The prior square
light was decommissioned when it became redundant, as the harbor had grown past it.
A contemporary unmanned light in the Art Deco style is the Gravelly Shoal Light
in Michigan.
Although it never had a resident lighthouse keeper
, this light is a recognized 'significant light" by the National Park Service
National Maritime Initiative.
In June, 2009 the Coast Guard proposed changing the light to a green Light emitting diode.
The lighthouse is owned by the Coast Guard and the tower is closed.
Breakwater (structure)
Breakwaters are structures constructed on coasts as part of coastal defence or to protect an anchorage from the effects of weather and longshore drift.-Purposes of breakwaters:...
on the east side of the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal
Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal
The Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal is an artificial waterway on the southwest shore of Lake Michigan, in East Chicago, Indiana which connects the Grand Calumet River to Lake Michigan. It consists of two branch canals, the 1.25 mile Lake George Branch and the 2 mile long Grand Calumet River Branch...
where it enters Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
.
History
According to the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, MichiganMichigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
's southern boundary should be a line drawn from the southern tip of Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
east to Lake Erie
Lake Erie
Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...
. Due to errors of cartography
Cartography
Cartography is the study and practice of making maps. Combining science, aesthetics, and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality can be modeled in ways that communicate spatial information effectively.The fundamental problems of traditional cartography are to:*Set the map's...
, Lake Michigan was charted further north than it really is. This error put Toledo, Ohio
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...
and the Maumee River
Maumee River
The Maumee River is a river in northwestern Ohio and northeastern Indiana in the United States. It is formed at Fort Wayne, Indiana by the confluence of the St. Joseph and St. Marys rivers, and meanders northeastwardly for through an agricultural region of glacial moraines before flowing into the...
mouth in Ohio. This was one of the bones of contention involved in the “Toledo War
Toledo War
The Toledo War , also known as the Michigan-Ohio War, was the almost entirely bloodless boundary dispute between the U.S. state of Ohio and the adjoining territory of Michigan....
”, which was only resolved by Act of Congress
Act of Congress
An Act of Congress is a statute enacted by government with a legislature named "Congress," such as the United States Congress or the Congress of the Philippines....
, and the related award of the Upper Peninsula to Michigan. All of this had an indirect effect on Indiana's northern border, which now encompassed the southern tip of Lake Michigan.
Indiana Harbor was constructed over several years, beginning in 1901, and this included a breakwater paralleling the east edge of the channel where it enters the lake. In 1914 responsibility for the waterway and its facilities was assumed by the Corps of Engineers
United States Army Corps of Engineers
The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...
, and there is some indication that the Corps erected a lighthouse on the breakwater in 1920; however, information on its construction is lacking.
On 26 March 1901, Inland Steel Company
Inland Steel Company
The Inland Steel Company was a U.S. steel company active in 1893-1998. Its history as an independent firm thus spanned much of the 20th century. It was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois at the landmark Inland Steel Building....
contracted with Lake Michigan Land Company. It accepted fifty acres of dune land near East Chicago and a promise that a harbor and railroad would be built, in consideration of a promise to build a steel plant there that would cost no less than one million dollars. For $500,000, Inland Steel divested itself of Inland Iron and Forge Company, and raised another $500,000 to fund the project.
During 1901 and 1902, Indiana Harbor was dredged and a breakwater
Breakwater (structure)
Breakwaters are structures constructed on coasts as part of coastal defence or to protect an anchorage from the effects of weather and longshore drift.-Purposes of breakwaters:...
built. In 1903, work began on a canal that would eventually linking the Indiana Harbor inland to both the Grand Calumet River and Lake George. Over the next several years, many industries were established there.
In 1914, the federal government assumed responsibility for Indiana Harbor and the canal. The first lighthouse was constructed in the harbor in 1920. The current light was erected in 1935, and is identical to the better known Port Washington Breakwater Light
Port Washington Breakwater Light
The Port Washington Breakwater Light is a modern lighthouse at the entrance to the Port Washington, Wisconsin harbor on Lake Michigan. The second tower at this location, it remains an active aid to navigation.-History:...
in Wisconsin. It is an Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
steel tower standing on a circular pier at the tip of the breakwater. The original lantern, which housed a fourth order Fresnel lens
Fresnel lens
A Fresnel lens is a type of lens originally developed by French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel for lighthouses.The design allows the construction of lenses of large aperture and short focal length without the mass and volume of material that would be required by a lens of conventional design...
(1 second flash every 7.5 seconds), has been removed and replaced by a modern beacon with a characteristic of three seconds on followed by three seconds off.
It is one of a dozen past or present lighthouses in Indiana.
The prior square
Square (geometry)
In geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral. This means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles...
light was decommissioned when it became redundant, as the harbor had grown past it.
A contemporary unmanned light in the Art Deco style is the Gravelly Shoal Light
Gravelly Shoal Light
Gravelly Shoals Light is an automated lighthouse that is an active aid to navigation on the shallow shoals extending southeast from Point Lookout on the western side of Saginaw Bay. The light is situated about offshore and was built to help guide boats through the deeper water between the...
in Michigan.
Although it never had a resident lighthouse keeper
Lighthouse keeper
A lighthouse keeper is the person responsible for tending and caring for a lighthouse, particularly the light and lens in the days when oil lamps and clockwork mechanisms were used. Keepers were needed to trim the wicks, replenish fuel, wind clockworks and perform maintenance tasks such as cleaning...
, this light is a recognized 'significant light" by the National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
National Maritime Initiative.
In June, 2009 the Coast Guard proposed changing the light to a green Light emitting diode.
Getting there
The industrial area surrounding the breakwater is private and the area closed. It is best seen from the water. Charters avail available.The lighthouse is owned by the Coast Guard and the tower is closed.
See also
- Lighthouses in the United StatesLighthouses in the United StatesThis is a list of lighthouses in the United States. The United States has had approximately a thousand lights as well as light towers, range lights, and pier head lights...
- National Historic Lighthouse Preservation ActNational Historic Lighthouse Preservation ActThe National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000 is American legislation creating a process for the transfer of federally-owned lighthouses into private hands...
Specialized additional reading
- Andreas, A.T. (1884) History of Chicago from the Earliest Period to the Present Time,
- Chicago's Front Door, Chicago Public Library Digital Collection, website.
- Chicago, Scribner's Monthly (September 1875) Vol. X, No. 5.
- http://books.google.com/books?id=aEvP0VJaedoC&pg=PA132&lpg=PA132&dq=Indiana+Harbor+East+Breakwater+Light&source=bl&ots=SSqKLxG-EE&sig=J4fsjZQamoaPF86mZdGv5n32ILo&hl=en&ei=4j7bSovoCszd8Qb5x4G3BQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CB0Q6AEwBzgK#v=onepage&q=Indiana%20Harbor%20East%20Breakwater%20Light&f=falseHyde, Charles K., and Ann and John Mahan. (1995) The Northern Lights: Lighthouses of the Upper Great Lakes.] Detroit: Wayne State University PressWayne State University PressWayne State University Press , founded in 1941, is a university press that is part of Wayne State University. It publishes under its own name and also the imprints Painted Turtle and Great Lakes Books....
, p. 132. ISBN 0814325548 ISBN 9780814325544. - Havighurst, Walter (1943) The Long Ships Passing: The Story of the Great Lakes, Macmillan PublishersMacmillan PublishersMacmillan Publishers Ltd, also known as The Macmillan Group, is a privately held international publishing company owned by Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group. It has offices in 41 countries worldwide and operates in more than thirty others.-History:...
. - Karamanski, T. Ed., Historic Lighthouses and Navigational Aids of the Illinois Shore of Lake Michigan Loyola UniversityLoyola University ChicagoLoyola University Chicago is a private Jesuit research university located in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1870 under the title St...
& Illinois Historic Preservation AgencyIllinois Historic Preservation AgencyThe Illinois Historic Preservation Agency is a governmental agency of the U.S. state of Illinois. It is tasked with the duty of maintaining most State-owned historic sites within Illinois, and maximizing their educational and recreational value to visitors....
, (1989). - Longstreet, Stephen (1973) Chicago 1860-1919 (New York: McKay).
- Lopez, Victor. "This Old Lighthouse: Chicago Harbor Beacon Gets a Facelift." Coast Guard (September, 1997), pp. 24–25.
- Mayer, Harold M. (1957) The Port of Chicago University of Chicago PressUniversity of Chicago PressThe University of Chicago Press is the largest university press in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including The Chicago Manual of Style, dozens of academic journals, including Critical Inquiry, and a wide array of...
. - Perry, W.A (1979) A History of Inland Steel Company And The Indiana Harbor Works (booklet)
- Rice, Mary J., Chicago: Port to the World (Follet Publishers, 1969).
- Sapulski, Wayne S., (2001) Lighthouses of Lake Michigan: Past and Present (Paperback) (Fowlerville: Wilderness Adventure Books) ISBN 0923568476; ISBN 978-0923568474.
External links
- Map, U.S. Beacons, Indiana Harbor East Breakwater Light.
- Satelite view at Google mapsGoogle MapsGoogle Maps is a web mapping service application and technology provided by Google, free , that powers many map-based services, including the Google Maps website, Google Ride Finder, Google Transit, and maps embedded on third-party websites via the Google Maps API...
.