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Less than 50 miles north of Green Bay, Wisconsin sits the lonely and nearly forgotten Peshtigo Reef Lighthouse. In the days before the lighthouse was built in 1934 a lightship marked the spot.

What happened to the history of this lighthouse that was only staffed in modern times is anybody’s guess. Photographs of keepers, recorded memories of the keepers, newspaper stories about the lighthouse and just about everything else about it seems to have been swallowed up. We contacted the Peshtigo Historical Society, Marinette County Historical Society, and many other libraries and research centers, all to no avail. Maybe this story will help bring some old photographs and memories of the lighthouse out of old albums and dusty old trunks stored in attics.

However one thing is for certain, if the lighthouse had been standing on the night of October 8, 1871, the lighthouse keepers would have thought they were witnessing the end of the world.

It was on that night that one of the greatest recorded fires in world history took place just a few short miles from the lighthouse. That night was the Great Peshtigo Fire. However, the Great Peshtigo Fire has been obscured by another great fire on that same day, the Great Chicago Fire. This in itself is eerie. Chicago, being a bigger city got all the attention and the Great Chicago Fire is the one that is known by most. After all, we all know the story of Mrs. O’Leary’s cow.

In fact the Peshtigo Fire was by far much worse and more deadly. In a few short hours the lives of over 1000 persons were snuffed out in an inferno of flame and terror. In fact, this fire was so hot that the flames pursued the roots of trees into the depths of the earth. The heat was so intense that many of the bodies showed no traces of scars or burns, yet in the pockets of the victims, their watches, coins and other articles of metal were completely melted.

Even stranger was the stories told by those that survived. Today’s UFO buffs might be well taken to believe their stories. Survivors told of seeing a large black object, resembling a balloon, which revolved in the air with great speed, above the trees advancing toward a house, which it seemed to have singled out. Barely had the object touched the top of the house when it burst with a loud explosion and fire streamed out in all directions.

The fire burned over 1.2 million acres and spread to burn 16 other towns. But it was Peshtigo that suffered the worst. The town was virtually gone.

Why did the Chicago Fire gain more notoriety? Because of the telegraph. The telegraph spread the word of the Chicago fire to the newspapers around the world. Peshtigo was a remote area and it had no telegraph. In fact, the survivors sent an emissary to Green Bay, which was the nearest telegraph site, to send a message to the governor of Wisconsin for help. That message took two days to arrive.

However, Wisconsin’s governor and other state officials were gone — they had taken trainloads of supplies to Chicago to help the survivors there. The governor’s wife, hearing of disaster, took over the governor’s job and commandeered railroad cars and supplies for Peshtigo. She also issued urgent public appeals for money, clothing and bedding. Finally, the governor got word and returned to take charge. Donations of food, clothing and money poured in from all over the world. The United States Government contributed 4000 woolen blankets, 1500 pairs of trousers and overcoats, 100 wagons with harnesses, 200,000 rations of hard bread, beans, bacon, sugar and coffee.

What does all this have to do with lighthouses? Nothing. But it is history worth being retold. If the lighthouse had been standing at that time, it might well indeed be the greatest lighthouse story ever recorded.

The Peshtigo Fire Museum is located at the corner of Oconto St. and Ellis Av. In Peshtigo, Wisconsin. It is open in season daily from 9 am to 5pm.

To learn more about the Great Peshtigo Fire we recommend the book Embers of October by Robert W. Wells. The book is available for $16.00 plus $3.00 shipping and handling from the Peshtigo Historical Society, 400 Oconto Ave., Peshtigo, WI 54157.

This story appeared in the September 2001 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.

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