The first lighthouse at Chicago commenced operation near the mouth of the Chicago River in 1833. After piers were constructed at the entrance to the river, a new skeletal iron lighthouse was activated at the extremity of the North Pier on July 9, 1859. During the next decade, the North Pier was extended lakeward at different times until its end was 1,200 feet from the 1859 lighthouse. A beacon lighthouse, equipped with a sixth-order lens, was established at the outer end of the pier in 1860, and in 1881 a fog bell, struck by machinery, was erected nearby.In 1885, a new open-frame tower was built at the end of the pier to replace the old one, and the lantern room and lens were transferred to this new tower.
At the same time, the fog bell house was painted, and the elevated walkway, which allowed the keeper access to the tower in inclement weather, was repaired. In 1892, the fog bell was in operation for 414 hours. When Chicago Harbor Lighthouse, situated near the southern end of the new breakwater, was activated on November 9, 1893, the 1859 tower was discontinued, dismantled, and parts of it incorporated into a new tower at Twin River, Wisconsin. In 1899, a fog bell apparatus, formerly used at St. Joseph Pierhead, was repaired and placed into service at the Chicago Pierhead Range. The old fog bell house from Chicago was shipped to the depot at St. Joseph for repairs, preparatory to be installed at Frankfort Pierhead.
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