>> Click to enlarge << Algoma Pierhead Lighthouse. Photo by: Gerald Tyson

The United States Coast Guard has announced that it plans to remove the 5th order Fresnel lenses from the Algoma Pierhead Lighthouse in Algoma, Wisconsin and the Kewaunee Pierhead Lighthouse in Kewaunee, Wisconsin; they will be replace with modern light-emitting-diode lights.

>> Click to enlarge << Kewaunee Pierhead Lighthouse. Photo by: William Swift

The Fresnel lens at the Kewaunee Pierhead Lighthouse has been there since 1931, and the lens in the Algoma Pierhead Lighthouse has been there since 1932.

>> Click to enlarge << Close-up view of the 5th order Fresnel lens in ... Photo by: Jerry Biggs

The Coast Guard says that the lenses are suffering from deterioration from age as well as the harsh environmental conditions. The lenses will be packed up to be preserved, or they might be loaned to a museum, or museums, where the lenses can be preserved and displayed in a controlled environment for safe display.

This story appeared in the Mar/Apr 2017 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.

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