Neenah Light

Neenah Light

Neenah Lighthouse
Location	Neenah, Wisconsin
Coordinates	44°11′7.8″N 88°26′29″W
Tower
Constructed	1945
Height	49 feet (15 m)
Heritage	National Register of Historic Places listed place
Light
First lit	1945
Focal height	15 m (49 ft)
Characteristic	Fl W 4.5s
Kimberly Point Park Lighthouse
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Area	less than one acre
Built	1945 (1945)
Built by	Flour Brothers Construction Company
Architectural style	Colonial Revival
NRHP reference No.	12001275
Added to NRHP	February 5, 2013

The Neenah Light (also known as the Kimberly Point Lighthouse) is located in Kimberly Point Park in Neenah, Wisconsin. The lighthouse marks the entrance of Lake Winnebago into the Lower Fox River.

History

The City of Neenah began in 1835 as an agricultural and industrial mission for the Menominee Indians. It was named after the American Indian term for water. After the Civil War, rail transportation was a large factor in the growth of Neenah's local economy. One major outcome of this was the development of the Kimberly-Clark Corporation in 1872. John Alfred Kimberly was one of four men who started this successful company. In 1929, Helen Kimberly Stuart (daughter of J. A. Kimberly) donated some land to the City of Neenah. This land, which overlooked the confluence of Lake Winnebago and the Fox River, was named Kimberly Point Park. In 1944, J. C. Kimberly (son of J. A. Kimberly) realized there was a need for a light to mark the entrance to the river. He donated the $7,500 and hired Flour Brothers Construction Company of nearby Oshkosh for the construction of a 40-foot (12 m), brick and Haydite block lighthouse. The lighthouse began guiding boaters into the Neenah Harbor in 1945. It was later raised to 49 feet (15 m) in 1954.

In order to protect the site's historic character, the Neenah Landmarks Commission added Kimberly Point Lighthouse to the municipal Register of Historic Places in 2009. Three years later, the lighthouse was added to the Wisconsin State Register of Historic Places, and in 2013 it was approved for the National Register of Historic Places.

Further reading

• 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) ISBN 0-932212-98-0.
• Pepper, Terry. "Seeing the Light: Lighthouses on the western Great Lakes".
• Wright, Larry and Wright, Patricia, Great Lakes Lighthouses Encyclopedia Hardback (Erin: Boston Mills Press, 2006) ISBN 1-55046-399-3.

External links

• www.ci.neenah.wi.us/community/heritage.html
• Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the United States: Eastern Wisconsin". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
• "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Wisconsin". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.