Milwaukee's First Lighthouse
Lit Nightly
Milwaukee’s first lighthouse was built in 1838 atop a bluff at the east end of Wisconsin Avenue. The first keeper was “Cork Leg” Bates, who sold wine, tobacco, small beer, and cigars from the house. “The seven lights which hung from the lantern house were not all that was lit nightly," wrote a local historian, "for cork-legged Eli Bates had always a table or two of the gayest young blades, playing cards and bending elbows until the dawn.” |
Object of Interest
The location of Milwaukee's first lighthouse was an odd one, for it marked neither the entry to the harbor nor a point of land. “The site must have been chosen by someone little acquainted with navigation,” wrote lighthouse inspector James Homans. “It apparently was located to gratify some of the townspeople, at the termination of one of the streets near the bank of the lake, where it forms an object of interest from its neat appearance when viewed from other parts of the village." Runners On the bluff beside the lighthouse was a shanty, where hotel runners, glass in hand, watched and waited for the appearance of passenger boats. When a boat hove in sight, the watchmen took to their heels to advise the hotels, which in turn sent agents scurrying to the pier to solicit business. Crowing Joe The old steamboat Detroit used to land near the foot of the lighthouse, and this was a favorite spot for "Crowing Joe" Rivard. Aboard the boat was a rooster of the old barnyard breed, as full of fight as a hornet, and whenever the boat came in, Joe would take his stand on the bank and crow. At this the rooster, no doubt thinking it was a challenge from a neighboring farmyard, would answer. At last Joe became such a nuisance that he was arrested and brought up before the justice. However, as no law existed to forbid a man from playing a rooster, he soon was acquitted. When told he was free, "he gave an exhibition of his vocal powers that fairly shook the windows, and was replied to by every cock within hearing." |