Racine harbor had its first lighthouse in 1837,[4] but that light was not visible to ships approaching from the north, blocked by Racine Point, three and a half miles to the north.[5] As a result, the Lighthouse Board recommended in 1870 the building of a lighthouse on Wind Point itself. Congress appropriated the money in 1877 and the lighthouse entered service in 1880.[6]
Wind Point Lighthouse was designed by Orlando Metcalfe Poe, a former Brigadier General in the Civil War. The lighthouse was constructed in 1880. It was lit for the first time on November 15, 1880. The beacon was originally powered by a three-wicked kerosene lamp, magnified by a third-order Fresnel lens. The light was electrified in 1924, and replaced a DCB-24Rairport beacon in 1964. The DCB-24R failed in 2007, and was replaced by a VRB-25 lens.[5] A signal house (horns removed, resonators still in place) remains on the grounds as well as a garage, two storage buildings, and an oil house. The Village of Wind Point has maintained the lighthouse and grounds since 1964, and uses the old keepers' quarters as a village hall and police headquarters.[5] The park and lighthouse were transferred from the U.S. coast guard to the Village of Wind Point in 1997, with the requirement that it be maintained as a historical landmark. The lighthouse is open to tour on certain dates.
In the summer of 2007, the lighthouse tower underwent a US$210,000 restoration,[7] during which windows and doors were replaced, brickwork repointed, and the tower repainted.
The shipwreck site of the Kate Kelly is located 2 miles (3.2 km) east of the lighthouse.[8]
Havighurst, Walter (1943) The Long Ships Passing: The Story of the Great Lakes, Macmillan Publishers.
Oleszewski, Wes, Great Lakes Lighthouses, American and Canadian: A Comprehensive Directory/Guide to Great Lakes Lighthouses, (Gwinn, Michigan: Avery Color Studios, Inc., 1998) ISBN0-932212-98-0.
Sapulski, Wayne S., (2001) Lighthouses of Lake Michigan: Past and Present (Paperback) (Fowlerville: Wilderness Adventure Books) ISBN0-923568-47-6; ISBN978-0-923568-47-4.