Lake Winnebago, WI

Late Fall is a great time to visit Lake Winnebago! It can get pretty chilly, but there’s always something to do!

This visit, we decided to do some lighthouse visiting. 🥰 We loaded up with some homemade goodies and took another road trip adventure! I love to bake and eating healthy food is super important to us, so we buy most of our grains, flour, and baking supplies from Azure Standard. You can check them out here: https://www.azurestandard.com/?a_aid=b47eb8bb38

The first lighthouse on our agenda was the Asylum Point Lighthouse. Nope, I’m not kidding, that’s really the name. 🤯 With a name like that, we just had to go see it! At the Asylum Point Park they started construction on the Northern Asylum for the Insane. This was back in 1871, and the name has since been changed to the Winnebago Mental Health Institute. The bay is still called Asylum Bay and the tiny island the lighthouse stands on is called Asylum Point. There’s a neat little bridge that takes you over a small part of Asylum Bay and onto the point. It’s a peaceful, picturesque area that we really enjoyed. 😊

This amazing lighthouse was built in 1937, stands 30 ft. tall, and is 8 ft. around at the base. It is constructed of sand colored brick, with multiple windows, but my favorite part is the 7 ft. copper topped cupola. This lighthouse is closed and you cannot go into the tower, but you can enjoy the nice park and trails. Fun fact: According to lighthousefriends.com, since the lighthouse was rejected as a navigational light, this lighthouse has never been lit. 🤔

The second lighthouse we wanted to see was behind a locked gate, so we had to view it from the road. Bray’s Point (Rockwell) Lighthouse is on private property, but is most likely best to view it from a boat. We did get to take a peek at it from the road, and it really is quite beautiful. In fact, it is one of the most ornate lighthouses in Wisconsin. 🤩

Built in 1909, this 42 ft. octagonal concrete beauty is located on Lake Winnebago in a private neighborhood due to the controversy that arose from the decision on whether there was an actual need for the lighthouse. Wisconsin State Senator, William Bray ended up using his own money to buy the land, build the lighthouse, and pay for the upkeep. 💵 Why would he have to do that you may ask. Well, apparently the Federal Government didn’t think it was really needed. Thankfully they ended up changing their minds in 1917 when they realized how important this lighthouse really was and provided funds for the lighting and upkeep until 1950 when it was decommissioned. Unfortunately after it was decommissioned, it was no longer maintained. In 1980, restoration began and in 1986 the owners of the property were able to relight it. Fun Fact: President William Howard Taft visited this lighthouse in 1911! 😀

There are 4 more lighthouses on Lake Winnebago, and we hope to view the others next time.

We hope you are enjoying our travels! We’d love to welcome you to subscribe to our email list, Facebook, & YouTube channel. You can also share it with your friends, if you’d like. We added some videos on our YouTube channel to go along with the post: https://www.youtube.com/@TravelingwiththeTrapps

Thanks so much and stay tuned for more Traveling with the Trapps!

Share this: