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Probably one of the very best places to view Chicago’s awesome skyline is from the 1893 Chicago Harbor Lighthouse. But, other than when a salesman for Good Housekeeping magazine leased the lighthouse from the government for a few years after automation in the late 1970s, no one has lived there since then. And the lighthouse has been left to the elements.
That may all change now that a group of concerned citizens has formed the nonprofit Friends of Chicago Harbor Lighthouse to raise money to save the iconic Chicago landmark. The group is getting started in the nick of time, because the federal government was about to revoke the ownership deed to the City of Chicago. The city had done nothing to care for the lighthouse since it was given to them in 2009.
The nonprofit ‘friends’ are in the early stages of dealing with the various technical and bureaucratic aspects of saving a historic lighthouse, which could cost upwards of $5 million. Fortunately, the lighthouse is on the National Register of Historic Places, and was given the status of being listed as a Chicago Landmark in 2003; two factors that will help in obtaining grants and donations.
To learn more about the Friends of Chicago Harbor Lighthouse you can visit their website at savethelighthouse.org or follow them on Facebook. (Photo courtesy Barry Butler Photography)
This story appeared in the
Jul/Aug 2023 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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