Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
“The Baileys Harbor Range Lights are a pair of lighthouses arranged in a range light configuration, located near Baileys Harbor in Door County, Wisconsin, United States.”
Wikipedia article Baileys Harbor Range Lights, CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 68 National Register listings published here for Door County · listed in 1989 · category: District.
Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service
The chapter on Baileys Harbor Town in History Of Door County Wisconsin The County Beautiful, published 1917 names Baileys Harbor. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.
Baileys Harbor enjoys the distinction of being the first place in Door County that was selected for a village site. Not only this, but it was officially selected as the county seat several years before Door County's actual organization was effected. The genesis of this early Baileys Harbor boom is as follows:
Passage source: History Of Door County Wisconsin The County Beautiful, published 1917.
Elated. with his discovery Captain Bailey took with him several cords of building stone and firewood and proceeded on his way to Milwaukee. Here he gave such an enthusiastic account of the harbor he had discovered that among other captains of the line "Baileys Harbor" at once became a famous place. The owner of the line, Mr. Alanson Sweet, also became very much interested in the samples of stone and wood that Captain Bailey had brought with him. Mr. Sweet was doing an extensive business in the forwarding and commission business and owned about a dozen large vessels. These plied between Milwaukee and Buffalo. On the way down there were always large cargoes of grain to be carried but on the way up the freight was scant and uncertain, consisting chiefly of salt and immigrants.
Passage source: History Of Door County Wisconsin The County Beautiful, published 1917.
Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.
Read the whole chapter on Baileys Harbor Town - 5,512 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 8 fires within 5 miles of Baileys Harbor Range Light between 1998 and 2020, burning about 91 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 5 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 July 2019 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 27 |
| 23 June 1998 | Debris and open burning | 88 acres | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 7 May 2019 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 61 |
| 15 May 2019 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 20 |
| 15 May 2018 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 15 |
| 25 April 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 13 |
| 25 April 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 12 |
| 4 February 2019 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 44 |
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Baileys Harbor Range Light: 3 producers, 1 past producer. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Door County Quarries | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Becker Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Josephs Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Walter Fischer Sand and Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Baileys Harbor, the town this property stands in, in 11 storm reports between 1998 and 2025: 7 hail, 4 thunderstorm wind. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Baileys Harbor | - | Thunderstorm winds produced widespread tree damage across Cana Island. This tree damage temporarily stranded campers on the island as the roads were inaccessible due to trees blocking the roads. The time of this report is an estimate based on radar data. |
| May 2022 | Hail | Baileys Harbor | - | Nickel size hail fell in Baileys Harbor. |
| May 2022 | Hail | Baileys Harbor | - | Penny size hail fell northeast of Baileys Harbor. |
| May 2018 | Hail | Baileys Harbor | - | A thunderstorm dropped quarter size hail in Baileys Harbor. |
| August 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Baileys Harbor | - | Thunderstorm winds knocked down power lines and tree branches near Baileys Harbor. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Baileys Harbor | - | Thunderstorm winds downed a tree and power pole near County highway E and Maple Road, knocking out power to much of Baileys Harbor. |
| June 2008 | Hail | Baileys Harbor | - | no account filed |
| September 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Baileys Harbor | - | no account filed |
| September 1998 | Hail | Baileys Harbor | - | no account filed |
| August 1998 | Hail | Baileys Harbor | - | no account filed |
| March 1998 | Hail | Baileys Harbor | - | no account filed |
No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.
Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.
| Photograph | Property | Distance | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Albert Zahn House | 0.2 miles | 2000 |
| PEORIA Shipwreck (Schooner) | 0.3 miles | 2024 | |
 | August Zahn Balcksmith Shop and House | 0.4 miles | 2000 |
| EMILIN (schooner) Shipwreck | 0.4 miles | 2023 | |
 | Baileys Harbor Town Hall-McArdle Library | 0.5 miles | 2000 |
 | Globe Hotel | 0.6 miles | 1982 |
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 89001466 in Record Group 79. |
| Wikipedia article | Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA. |
| Door County | All 68 listed properties in this county. |
Block