By Tom Davis
Among the jobs you rarely see advertised, lighthouse keeper ranks close to the top of the list -- right up there with corset fitter, mule skinner and sundry other professions there’s not a heck of a lot of call for these days. But when the longtime keepers of the Wind Point Lighthouse decided to move on, the position became available, as they say. A landmark on the Lake Michigan shoreline north of Racine since 1880, the Wind Point light is currently the only active lighthouse on the Great Lakes with year-round caretakers.
Year-round is not the same as full-time, though. The keepers are expected to put in 15 to 20 hours per week of general maintenance (the Coast Guard retains responsibility for the light itself, which is fully automated anyway), and also to oversee event rentals at the nearby Wind Point village hall. In return, they get to live rent-free in a very cool -- not to mention historic -- lighthouse. The view’s not bad, either.
In 2002, after receiving inquiries from as far away as Arizona and Florida and processing more than 100 formal applications, the village of Wind Point selected Jeff and Missy Peterson of Racine. The Petersons, whose daughter Malaney was then 1-1/2, succeeded Michael and Liana Cooper; Michael held the job for the previous 21 years. There’s an interesting continuity in this line of succession: Jeff Peterson and Michael Cooper both happen to be firefighters for the city of Racine.
As the Petersons prepared to move in October 2002, Missy held what she described as “the mother of all rummage sales” in preparation for their impending change of address. “We’re really looking forward to it -- although it’s not going to be as big a change for us as people think,” Missy said. “We’re just going to work our duties at the lighthouse into our lifestyle.”
Four years later, the Petersons -- who now have a son, Finn -- are still enjoying lighthouse life. And thanks to the recent installation of public restrooms on the lighthouse grounds, they’ve got it easier than their immediate predecessors -- at least in one important respect. “Mike Cooper told us,” related Missy, “that the worst part of living in the lighthouse was dealing with all the people who’d knock on the door and ask to use the bathroom.”
5227 Wind Point Road, Racine; (262) 639-3777, windpointwi.us.
Tom Davis is the author of The Tattered Autumn Sky: Bird Hunting in the Heartland and other books. This article originally appeared in Wisconsin Trails magazine.