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The United States of America is a federal union of 50 states and a capital district. The central state of Illinois has several historic light stations on Lake Michigan in the Chicago area plus several pierhead lights. In addition, the Chicago Department of Water maintains lights on each of its four current or former water intake cribs. There are also many navigational lights on Mississippi River on the state's western border and on the Illinois Waterway, a connecting waterway between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi. When Illinois Territory was organized in 1809 it included all of modern Wisconsin and parts of Minnesota and Upper Michigan. The state of Illinois, with its prresent boundaries, was admitted to the union as the 21st state in 1818. There is no Chicago area lighthouse preservation group and preservation attention has focused almost entirely on the well-known Grosse Pointe Light in Evanston. The historic Chicago Harbor Lighthouse, shown at right, is much in need of restoration.. Aids to navigation in Illinois are maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Lake Michigan based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with an Aids to Navigation Team ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. USCG numbers are from volumes 5 and 7 of the U.S. Coast Guard List of Lights.
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![]() Wilson Avenue Crib Light, Chicago, June 2023 ex-Google Maps photo by Mike Zhang |
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![]() Quinsippi Light, Quincy, August 2017 photo copyright Andreas Schuldt; used by permission |
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Information available on lost lighthouses:
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Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: North: Southeastern Wisconsin | East: Indiana
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Checked and revised December 11, 2025. Lighthouses: 33. Site copyright 2025 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.