Cast-iron 1888 lighthouse and Queen Anne keeper's quarters in Milwaukee's Lake Park, restored as a museum in 2007; visitors report children's voices and a heavy basement.
2650 N Wahl Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53211
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
Modest museum admission with tower climb included; check site for current pricing.
Access
Limited Access
Keeper's quarters museum is partially accessible. The 84-step iron staircase to the tower lantern is steep and not wheelchair accessible.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1888 · Lake Park Historic District (Olmsted firm landscape) · Longest-tenured female lighthouse keeper in Wisconsin (Georgia Stebbins, officially 1881-1907; informally from 1874) · Cast-Iron Lighthouse Construction · Restored 2007 as museum
Lake Michigan shipping traffic grew rapidly through the 1840s, and Congress authorized a North Point light station in 1854 to mark the bluff north of Milwaukee's harbor. The original 30-foot brick tower with attached keeper's quarters lit in 1855, but ongoing bluff erosion led the Lighthouse Board to relocate the station inland by the 1880s. In 1888 a new 40-foot cast-iron tower was erected 100 feet from the bluff edge, paired with a substantial Queen Anne-style keeper's quarters; the new tower used a Fourth Order Fresnel lens visible roughly 16 miles offshore.
Frederick Law Olmsted's firm was concurrently designing Lake Park around the active light station, and in 1893 Wisconsin Senator John L. Mitchell helped secure permission to complete the Olmsted plan without disturbing the lighthouse's operations. As Lake Park's tree canopy matured into the early 20th century, the tower's visibility was progressively obscured. In 1912 the Coast Guard's predecessor service raised the cast-iron tower by 34 feet, bringing the structure to its present 74-foot height and producing the distinctive two-tier silhouette visible today.
Georgia A. Stebbins served as the longest-tenured keeper at North Point, informally performing the keeping duties for her ailing father D.K. Green from January 1874, and officially appointed keeper by the U.S. Lighthouse Service in July 1881, serving until her retirement in 1907 — a 26-year official tenure and the longest of any keeper at the station. She became the only woman to officially hold the North Point keepership. Stebbins was the resident keeper when the new 1888 quarters opened and raised her family on-site (source: northpointlighthouse.org/learn/keepers/georgia-stebbins/). The U.S. Coast Guard automated the light in 1943 and finally decommissioned the station in 1994.
After more than a decade of disuse the North Point Lighthouse Friends nonprofit, in partnership with the city of Milwaukee, restored the keeper's quarters and tower and reopened the property as a museum in October 2007. The site is now a contributing property to the Lake Park Historic District and operates seasonal public hours, school programs, and special evening events.
Sources
Witness accounts at North Point Lighthouse cluster around two zones: the upper-floor rooms of the 1888 keeper's quarters, and the basement. Volunteers cited by Haunted Rooms America and North Shore Family Adventures describe the sound of children's laughter and occasional screams echoing through unoccupied rooms, and report visitors asking where the children are when no children are present. These accounts are typically contextualized against the historical fact that keeper Georgia Stebbins and successive keepers raised families in the quarters, with children playing on grounds that included the dangerous bluff edge.
The basement is the most-cited area in current witness reports. Visitors describe a heavy or watched atmosphere, sudden temperature drops, and lights that flicker on and off without an identifiable electrical fault. Volunteers say the sensation is most often described as feeling unwelcome rather than threatened. The lighthouse appears in Milwaukee Insider, Haunted Rooms America, and North Shore Family Adventures roundups of the city's most-reported sites, and a TripAdvisor user review references coverage by Travel Channel's Ghost Adventures, though we could not independently confirm an aired episode.
As with most active-museum hauntings, the lighthouse staff frame these accounts as witness testimony rather than confirmed activity; the property does not run dedicated ghost tours but does program seasonal evening events that address the building's atmospheric reputation.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Self-guided exploration of the 1888 Queen Anne keeper's quarters museum, including exhibits on Milwaukee maritime history and the long tenure of keeper Georgia A. Stebbins, followed by a guided 84-step climb of the cast-iron tower to the lantern deck.
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