What are Chicago area lighthouses used for?

Curious City

WBEZ Chicago

Investigation, Chicago, Radio, Arts, Society & Culture, Public, Education, Curious, City

4.6 • 661 Ratings

🗓️ 8 April 2026

⏱️ 7 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Lighthouses were manned by keepers until automation took over. Now, preservationists are working to restore Chicago’s most iconic one.

Transcript

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0:00.0	It's Curious City, where we take your questions about Chicago and the region.
0:06.2	And investigate.
0:07.4	Report.
0:08.0	Explore.
0:08.9	From WBEZ.
0:11.1	What's up, Chicago?
0:12.0	I'm Erin Allen.
0:13.5	Today, we think of the lake as a place to hang out and relax.
0:17.9	But decades ago, as Chicago developed into a major Midwestern metropolis, the water
0:24.1	was busy with commercial maritime traffic. Lighthouses in the area represent that past.
0:30.7	For this week's story, reporter Katie Ruridan takes us to the lake.
0:36.2	Dawn Terrace is leading the way up a winding spiral, cast iron staircase.
0:40.3	To the top of the tower is 113 feet.
0:43.3	I think...
0:45.3	He's the longtime caretaker of the Grosse Point Lighthouse in Evanston.
0:48.3	What we're looking at right now is a device,
0:51.3	clockwork mechanism that controlled the flash of the light tower.
0:56.8	Now automated, the 153-year-old structure still functions as a private aid to navigation.
1:03.0	It also gives sweeping views of Lake Michigan and the sandy lighthouse beach below,
1:08.0	a popular spot that question asker, and Levy and her family frequent.
1:12.9	It got them wondering about other lighthouses along Chicago's lakefront.
1:17.3	Are any of them still in use in the traditional sense? And if not, what else are lighthouses
	...

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