Volume 4, Issue 1 - January 2026

President's Letter

Dear Friends,

Happy New Year 2026!

As we turn the page on 2025, I want to start with the most important thing: thank you.

Your support—your donations, encouragement, and belief in this mission—made 2025 a breakthrough year for the Friends of the Chicago Harbor Lighthouse.

Because of you, we enter 2026 with real momentum and a strong foundation beneath this work.

2025 was a breakthrough year

In 2025, you helped us prove what’s possible when a community rallies around something iconic.

Our first-ever National Lighthouse Day annual fundraiser didn’t just meet expectations—it exceeded my expectations by 10X, raising $180,000 in a single day. That kind of result doesn’t happen without extraordinary partners and supporters.

A special thank-you goes to our Host Sponsor, Wendella Boats, for their generosity and belief in what the Chicago Harbor Lighthouse can become. Wendella didn’t just support an event—they helped elevate the mission.

And to all of our sponsors, thank you for stepping up. Your sponsorships helped make the night possible and strengthened our ability to keep moving this project forward the right way.

Then, on Giving Tuesday (December 2, 2025), you showed up again—raising $35,468.55 from 83 generous donors in a single day, more than doubling our 2024 Giving Tuesday total.

That success was powered by Barry Butler Photography, whose gifts helped us thank donors in a meaningful way, and by our anonymous matching donor, whose generosity amplified the impact of every gift.

2026: A year of major progress

We anticipate 2026 being a significant year as we work toward securing the rights of ownership and access to the Chicago Harbor Lighthouse.

That’s a big phrase, but it means something very real: moving closer to the point where we can responsibly begin turning plans into action—creating safe access, advancing restoration, and laying the groundwork for the day we can welcome the public inside this iconic landmark.

We’ll have more to share soon. Our Annual Report will be released by the end of January, and we’re excited to highlight the progress we made in 2025 and the impact your support has had—putting FOCHL in a solid financial position as we prepare for the responsibilities ahead.

What’s inside this month’s newsletter

This January issue reflects the momentum you helped create:

Giving Tuesday Success — the impact, the gratitude, and what your support makes possible

Lighthouse's Boathouse & Workboats — another fascinating deep dive by Steve Clements into the 1917–1918 offshore relocation, the boathouse, davits, and the essential workboats that kept the lighthouse operating safely on Lake Michigan

Wear the Lighthouse With Pride — FOCHL t-shirts to help you represent the mission heading into spring and summer

Bring our lighthouse presentation to your organization

We’re actively seeking opportunities to present to civic groups, community organizations, and groups of 50 or more from February through May 2026.

If you represent an organization that would be interested in hosting our presentation— “Chicago Harbor Lighthouse: Past, Present, and Future”—please reach out to me directly. These talks are among the best ways to raise awareness, build community support, and bring more people into the mission.

Thank you for lighting the way

This lighthouse has stood offshore for generations—steady and enduring. Now, because of you, its future is becoming just as strong.

Thank you again for your incredible support in 2025—and for helping us step into what I truly believe will be a milestone year ahead.

Be Safe and Be Well!

Regards,

Kurt Lentsch

Chief Dreamer and President

Giving Tuesday 2025: Lighting the Way Into 2026

Giving Tuesday has become one of those days that reminds us what this mission is really about: a community of people coming together to protect something iconic, historic, and uniquely Chicago.

And because of you, Giving Tuesday 2025 was an incredible success.

In a single day, the Friends of the Chicago Harbor Lighthouse raised $35,468.55 from 83 generous donors—more than doubling our 2024 Giving Tuesday total.

That kind of momentum is powerful, and it’s deeply meaningful to all of us working to preserve, restore, and celebrate the Chicago Harbor Lighthouse.

What your support makes possible

Every donation helps move us closer to the day we can safely reopen the lighthouse and welcome people inside—students, families, Chicagoans, and visitors who have only ever admired it from the shoreline.

Giving Tuesday doesn’t just help us raise funds—it helps us keep moving forward with the real work behind the scenes: planning, protection, project development, and all the steps required to restore an offshore landmark the right way.

A heartfelt thank you to Barry Butler Photography

We’re incredibly grateful to Barry Butler Photography for supporting this year’s campaign with gifts that helped make Giving Tuesday even more special.

Thanks to Barry’s generosity, we’re able to send:

(30) Barry Butler’s Chicago 2026 calendars
(12) Barry Butler’s A City Above All books
(16) Barry Butler’s beautiful lighthouse images

to our Giving Tuesday supporters as a heartfelt thank-you.

These gifts are more than keepsakes—they’re daily reminders of what we’re working to save. And to everyone who donated and received a gift—we hope you’re enjoying it, and that it makes you feel proud every time you see it because you’re part of this story now.

A special thank-you to our anonymous matching donor

We also want to recognize our anonymous matching donor, whose generosity helped turn Giving Tuesday into an even bigger moment for the lighthouse.

Their belief in this project—and in all of you who support it—is inspiring. Matching support like this doesn’t just increase dollars; it builds energy, urgency, and confidence in what we’re doing together.

If you missed Giving Tuesday, you can still help us finish strong

If you weren’t able to participate on Giving Tuesday, there’s still an opportunity to support the mission as part of your year-end tax planning and charitable giving. You can learn more and make a gift at give.savethelighthouse.org.

Thank you for lighting the way forward

On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Friends of the Chicago Harbor Lighthouse, thank you for your kindness, your enthusiasm, and your unwavering belief that this lighthouse is worth saving.

You are lighting the way forward—into 2026 and beyond.

The Boathouse and Workboats of the 1918 Chicago Harbor Lighthouse

By Steve Clements

The original 1893 Chicago Harbor Lighthouse, when the current tower was established 2,000 feet North, did not include a boathouse. The lighthouse was built inside the breakwater, where it could be serviced by boats from the lighthouse depot onshore without too much concern for lake conditions.

When Chicago Harbor Lighthouse was relocated and rebuilt at the end of the new outer breakwater in 1917–1918, much closer to the open waters of Lake Michigan, the change was far more than a simple move of a tower.

The project transformed the lighthouse into a fully offshore, self-contained working station, marking the safe approach to Chicago Harbor. One of the most telling additions to the new design was the inclusion of a dedicated boathouse on the North side of the tower. This modest structure played an important role in the station's daily operations and safety.

Chicago Harbor Lighthouse, circa 1920s, showing boat davit and boathouse

A Lighthouse That Required Boats to Survive

By the early twentieth century, the U.S. Lighthouse Service had learned, sometimes the hard way, that offshore lights on the Great Lakes needed permanent, protected small craft. Lake Michigan’s sudden storms, heavy seas, winter ice, and commercial traffic demanded vessels that were always ready, sheltered, and maintained close at hand. Leaving boats exposed on the breakwater or being completely dependent on outside harbor craft was no longer acceptable.

The 1918 design acknowledged this reality. The boathouse provided:

Protection from ice and wave damage for boats at the lighthouse
A secure place for engines, fuel, and related safety gear
Quick access to an escape boat in an emergency, day or night

In other words, the boathouse was not an accessory; it had become essential infrastructure.

A Boathouse Far Above the Water

Unlike the 1893 lighthouse, built near water level, the 1918 structure was elevated 20 feet above the water on a foundation that protected it from Lake Michigan’s storms, provided additional mechanical space, and raised the focal plane of the light to improve visibility from greater distances, thereby enhancing its effectiveness. However, that improvement created additional challenges for the safe storage and use of boats at the lighthouse: How is a boat launched and retrieved for storage 20 feet above the water?

This problem had been solved by other offshore lighthouses and involved the use of one or more davits to raise and lower a boat over the edge of the foundation, in the same way lifeboats are lowered from a large ship. In the photo below, we see a circa 1920s photograph of the Chicago Harbor Lighthouse showing the davit. If you look closely, you’ll also note the large iron doors to the boathouse on the left side of the tower. Not visible is the boat cradle and railroad-style tracks that would be used to move the boat in and out of the boathouse.

We don’t currently have any photographs of the davit in use; however, the historic photo below depicts a similar setup at the Galveston Jetty Light, with a boat suspended on twin davits as it’s loaded or unloaded from the lighthouse.

A lighthouse workboat being transferred to or from the water at

the elevatedGalveston Jetty Light on a pair of davits

The Chicago Harbor Lighthouse was built with a single davit. A workboat would have been connected to the single davit at one or more points, balancing its center of gravity and keeping the boat level.

What Boats Were Stored There?

The clearest picture of how the boathouse was actually used comes from the 1929 “Description of Light Station – Chicago Harbor, a detailed inspection document that survives today. That report lists two boats assigned to the station:

One motor boat
One row boat

This pairing was likely deliberate. Redundancy mattered. Engines failed. Ice jammed propellers. Oars never stopped working.

The motor boat, the workhorse of the station, was described in detail. It measured 18 feet long with a 6-foot beam and was built in 1911; it arrived at the station in 1920. Power was provided by a 6-horsepower engine manufactured by Kahlenberg Brothers of Milwaukee, a firm well known on the Great Lakes for producing durable marine engines used in lighthouses, fishing, and industrial service. Ignition was provided by a Bosch magneto, and propulsion was through a 17-inch propeller, optimized (pitched) for low-speed control rather than speed.

These specifications tell us a great deal. This was not a pleasure craft. It was a rugged service boat, designed to carry people, supplies, and equipment through choppy waters alongside stone breakwaters and in rough weather conditions. Speed mattered less than torque, reliability, and the ability to maneuver precisely near the lighthouse foundation.

Based on the specifications from the report and information gathered about similar vessels at other offshore Great Lakes lighthouses, it is probable that the workboat at Chicago Harbor Lighthouse looked very similar to the AI-generated image of the workboat and engine shown below.

AI-generated depiction of a probable design for the workboat at Chicago Harbor Lighthouse.

The only photo evidence of a similarly sized workboat associated with Chicago Harbor Lighthouse is this January 8^th, 1936 photo of a keeper departing from the lighthouse. Note the similarities between the boat's design and the drawing above.

January 8, 1936, photo of a keeper departing from Chicago Harbor Lighthouse

The accompanying rowboat stored at the lighthouse may have ensured access when mechanical trouble made the motorboat unusable. Together, they formed a practical, redundant system.

Why the Boathouse Was Added

The boathouse exists because the lighthouse’s mission demanded it. After relocation, keepers could not simply “wait for good weather” to do their jobs. They needed dependable access for:

Keeper relief and inspections
Fuel and supply deliveries
Maintenance of the light and fog signal
Assistance to vessels or people in distress nearby

The boathouse ensured that boats and the lighthouse itself were always ready.

What Happened to the Boathouse and Boats

Additional research is required to determine the year of the change and the exact reasons for it, but by 1951, when the photo below was taken, the Iron boathouse doors had been replaced with casement windows, and it can be reasonably inferred that the boats had been removed. Today, glass block windows have replaced the casement windows.

We don’t know what the space was used for after the removal of the boats. All that remains today are portions of the railroad-like tracks in the floor of the old boathouse that carried the wheeled cradle on which the workboat rested, and which was rolled out to attach the davit to lower the boat to water level.

Additional research is also required to determine if the boats were upgraded after the 1929 report and what happened to them when their use at the lighthouse was discontinued. The boats were likely deployed to another location, or retired, declared surplus, and auctioned off by the GSA.

Will the Boathouse and Boats be Returned to the Lighthouse?

Restoration and renovation plans, as well as space planning to accommodate visitors to the lighthouse, are still evolving, so it's too early to answer that question precisely. We believe that, when priorities allow, and funding is available, we will acquire and work with local historic boat historians to restore or build a historically accurate workboat and find a suitable setting for its display. The original brackets for the davits remain on the tower, and we have detailed drawings depicting the davit system.

Many Historic Lighthouses Proudly Tell this Part of Their History.

The photo below was taken this summer during my visit to Sand Point Lighthouse in Escanaba, Michigan. The Delta County Historical Society, which restored the lighthouse, operates a museum and offers tours of the lighthouse. It has acquired a vintage workboat similar to historic images of its original boat. Here we see volunteer Rich Anzalone with the boat he has invested countless hours in painstakingly restoring.

Volunteer Rich Anzalone alongside the restored workboat at Sand Point Lighthouse

For Friends of the Chicago Harbor Lighthouse, stories like the boathouse and its workboats are central to why preservation matters. Our work is not only about safeguarding a brick-and-steel tower but also about recovering the lived experience of the keepers who worked there and the systems that enabled the light to function safely, day after day, in all seasons.

By researching original documents, examining surviving physical evidence, and sharing informed interpretations with the public, we help ensure that Chicago Harbor Lighthouse is understood as a working maritime outpost—not simply a landmark on the horizon. Each detail we uncover brings us closer to honoring the people who depended on this place, and to ensuring that future generations can do the same.

Get Ready for Spring: Wear the Lighthouse With Pride

FOCHL T-Shirts

In Chicago, spring always feels like a fresh start. The boats get uncovered, the lakefront trail comes back to life, and we all start counting down to those perfect summer days on the water.

As we head into a brand-new season, there’s a simple (and fun) way to help move our mission forward:

FOCHL T-Shirts Are Here—Order Yours Today

Our Friends of the Chicago Harbor Lighthouse t-shirts are more than just great-looking gear. They’re a way to show your support, spark conversations, and help more people learn that this offshore landmark isn’t just something to admire from afar—it’s something we’re working to preserve, restore, and celebrate, with the goal of welcoming the public inside one day.

When you wear FOCHL gear, you’re helping us:

Raise awareness for the lighthouse and the mission to save it
Grow the community of supporters who care about Chicago’s lakefront heritage
Fund the real work behind the scenes that moves this project forward

Made for the Lakefront (and for Your Boat Crew)

These shirts are built for exactly where you’ll wear them most:

at the harbor
on your boat
at Navy Pier
on the lakefront trail
at summer festivals, cookouts, and casual Fridays

And they’re a great way to outfit your whole crew—because when a few people show up in the same shirt, it turns into something bigger than apparel. It becomes a statement.

Be Ready for the Season

Spring and summer will be here before we know it. If you’ve been meaning to grab a FOCHL shirt—or you want to stock up for the season—now’s the time.

Order yours today and be ready to represent the lighthouse all season long.

ORDER TODAY

Thank You for Wearing the Mission

Every order helps us keep pushing forward. Every shirt worn in public helps us reach someone new. And every new supporter we gain makes this mission stronger.

Thank you for being part of the Friends of the Chicago Harbor Lighthouse—and for helping us preserve, restore, and celebrate one of Chicago’s most iconic landmarks.

Book a Presentation: The Chicago Harbor Lighthouse — Past, Present, and Future

As the boating season winds down and we move into the winter months, the Friends of the Chicago Harbor Lighthouse are eager to keep the story of our city’s most iconic beacon alive and growing. We are now booking 10 locations for our one-hour presentation, The Chicago Harbor Lighthouse: Past, Present, and Future.

This engaging program features a multimedia presentation, followed by an open question-and-answer session. Together, we explore the Lighthouse’s rich history, its role in Chicago’s development, and our mission to preserve, restore, and celebrate it for future generations.

The presentation is ideal for audiences of 50–200 people and is a perfect program for the offseason. If you or your organization is looking for dynamic, educational programming, we encourage you to contact us. Please direct your event planners to info@savethelighthouse.org to reserve a date.

Presenters include Edward Torrez, Steve Clements (FOCHL Board Secretary), and Kurt Lentsch (Chief Dreamer & President), who will walk audiences through the past, present, and exciting future of the Chicago Harbor Lighthouse.

Help us spread the word, share our story, and keep the light shining by booking a program today!

Help Light the Way

Every gift makes a difference. As we approach the final stages of acquiring the Chicago Harbor Lighthouse, your support powers the future-- restoration, public access, education, and celebration of this enduring symbol of our city’s maritime history.

This summer, we’re raising critical funds to launch our first major restoration efforts and create engaging programming that brings students, families, and visitors to the lighthouse for generations to come.

Donate today and become part of the story.
Share our mission with friends, neighbors, and colleagues.
Be a Lightkeeper and help us preserve this national treasure.

The Friends of the Chicago Harbor Lighthouse is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

Your donation is fully tax-deductible.

Visit www.SaveTheLighthouse.org/donate

Together, we can Save the Lighthouse. Thank you!

DONATE NOW

If you are part of an organization that has an interest in financially supporting our efforts to Preserve, Restore, and Celebrate the Chicago Harbor Lighthouse, please reach out to Nick Naber (nicknaber@savethelighthouse.org), our treasurer and a member of our fundraising working group.