Eagle Bluff Lighthouse lantern room in Door County, June 19, 2024. PC: Fox 11 Online
FISH CREEK, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A popular Door County attraction is taking people back to a time and place rich with history.
Eagle Bluff Lighthouse is situated within Peninsula State Park in Fish Creek.
With 18,000 people touring each year, and twice as many just visiting, Door County Historical Society executive director Amy Frank says the Eagle Bluff Lighthouse is a favorite stop.
“The Door County Historical Society has been managing and maintaining Eagle Bluff Lighthouse since 1960, when we got permission from the state of Wisconsin to completely restore the lighthouse, and open it as a museum,” Frank said.
The lighthouse became operational in 1868.
“It takes a beating, sitting up there on top of the bluff for sure. And it’s over 150 years old, so it’s incredible how well it has held up over time, which is just a tribute to the building at the time,” said Frank.
Frank says the museum is more than a look back in time.
“Captain Duclon, and his wife, and their seven sons lived here for 35 years, year-round, which is kind of unusual for lighthouses, that you would raise a family here, and be here for that long of a period of time, and stay year-round,” she said.
The Duclons stayed at Eagle Bluff from 1883-1918.
“We’re fortunate that we have a lot of those stories. We have actual pieces of furniture, and artifacts from the family. When we did the restoration in 1960, the youngest Duclon son was still alive, and helped us with that process. But the most importantly, share the stories of growing up in the lighthouse, and it’s those stories, that we like to share with the public, so they really have an understanding what it was like, to live and work in a lighthouse,” said Frank.
The lighthouse will turn 156 years old in October. Officials say as part of some recent restoration work, crews are actually adding electricity to the site for the first time this summer.
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