How does a lighthouse illuminate the technology and transportation methods in use before Wisconsin was a state?
Before railroad lines and highways crisscrossed the landscape, travel by water was the way to get around, and relied on lighthouses to help navigate. Throughout the 1800s, the Great Lakes saw a significant increase in shipping traffic, which meant more lighthouses were needed. The first lighthouse in what is now Wisconsin was built on Rock Island, and many more followed, both in Door County and all along Wisconsin’s Great Lakes coastlines.
Let's take a look
Questions to consider
Why was the Pottawatomie Lighthouse built? What was happening that created a need for lighthouses?
What does a lighthouse keeper do? What do you think it would be like to live in and run a lighthouse?
What tools did explorers make to document what they learned about the places they visited? How have these tools changed over time?
Take a virtual field trip
Explore the Pottawatomie Lighthouse on Rock Island State Park, in Door County, Wisconsin. Lit in 1836, it’s the oldest lighthouse in Wisconsin and the first in Lake Michigan! Click your way through a unique piece of Wisconsin history and share with your classmates a favorite fact you’ve discovered!
Meet the historians
Get to know the historians. Each historian in this episode has a card with information about that historian.
There are 4 cards to read.
Cat Phan
Digital Archivist
I take care of photos and videos and sound recordings so they last for a long time into the future!
Paul and Jeanell Dailey
Docents
We spend our days sharing the lighthouse with visitors and after 4:00, we enjoy living in the oldest lighthouse in Wisconsin!
Kevin Osgood
Museum President & CEO
At Door County Maritime Museum, I have the incredible opportunity to spend my workdays immersed in telling the incredible stories of the people that are forever a part of the incredible maritime history of this region!
Sam Perlman
Museum Deputy Director
At Door County Maritime Museum, I help share Door County’s amazing maritime history with thousands of visitors each year!
Quote from a historian
“This little peninsula has had a global impact going back to the first european traders who were coming here… right up until today’s tourists.”
Sam Perlman
Episode credits
Producer
David Boffa
Host
Cat Phan
Special Guests
Paul and Jeanell Dailey
Kevin Osgood
Sam Perlman
Research and Writing
David Boffa
Tori Charnetzki
Kylie Compe
Ian Glodich
Ryan Hendricks
Cat Phan
Videography
David Boffa
Ian Glodich
Tori Charnetzki
Kylie Compe
Mike Baron
James Donovan
Editing
Ian Glodich
David Boffa
Captioning
Catie Pfeifer
Translation Services
Rev
Educator Support Materials
David Boffa
Mia Forslund
Jen Kobylecky
Web Design
Charles Barrows
Erika Kachama-Nkoy
Web Development
John Vieth
Graphic and Motion Design
Danielle Riseley
Charles Barrows
Ian Glodich
Additional Production Support
Al Barcheski
Kurt Kaspar
Doug May
Terrance Volden
Executive Producer
Ryan Hendricks
Director of Education
Megan Monday
Director of Television
Jon Miskowski
Project Partners
Rebecca M. Blank Center for Campus History
UW–Madison Libraries
Wisconsin Historical Society
Experience Design and Development
Philip Ashby
David Boffa
Angelina Shi
Terrance Volden
Special Thanks
Brian Grube
Tina Jacoby
Brooke McCallum
Jeff Pfeiffer
Door County Maritime Museum
Friends of Rock Island Lighthouse
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Funding provided by
Timothy William Trout Education Fund
a gift of Monroe and Sandra Trout
Eleanor and Thomas Wildrick Family
Focus Fund for Education
Friends of PBS Wisconsin