Thanks to extensive work done over the last eight years, you can step into 1912 when you visit the Kewaunee Pierhead Lighthouse in the future. The latest project, a $10,000-plus painting project, was approved by the Kewaunee City Council earlier this month. Painters will sand and paint the entire first story of the lighthouse, an approximately two-week ordeal that will begin next week. The Friends of the Kewaunee Pierhead Lighthouse is financing the whole project, as they had done when they refurbished the upper portion of the lighthouse in 2017, installed new windows in 2023, and added a metal sheeting band around the base of the building to prevent water from seeping in earlier this year. Friends of the Kewaunee Pierhead Lighthouse Vice President Jake Heffernan says allowing the public to get close and personal with the structure has deepened the connection between the community and the lighthouse and generated more support to save it.

Heffernan adds that after pouring approximately $200,000 into the lighthouse over the last dozen years thanks to funding from donors and grants, the focus moving forward will be restoring the structure's interior. The Kewaunee Pierhead Lighthouse will offer one more tour opportunity this year on October 5th as part of the Fall Lighthouse Festival orchestrated by the Door County Maritime Museum. The lighthouse was passed from the National Park Service to the city in September 2011 and added to the National and State Registers of Historic Places in 2022. 

Picture courtesy of Friends of the Kewaunee Pierhead Lighthouse Facebook page