Who Has the Most Lighthouses?
By Sue Clark on Sep 2, 2007 in Other 
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Well, we all know that Michigan is number one as the state with the most lighthouses (about 120), but which county has the most? That’s the tongue-in-cheek question that was posed by the Capital Times in Wisconsin the other day. According to the story, Door County, Wisconsin, claims that title.
Not so, says Roland Babineau of Massachusetts, even though county and state officials have bragged about it for years, claiming ten lighthouses (it actually only has eight according to the Wisconsin Travel Bureau site). From the story:
The state Department of Tourism still mentions this tidbit in its online list of tourism facts. The state Department of Natural Resources’ magazine has bragged about it in its articles.
The Door County Board of Realtors repeats it on its Web site, as do resorts in Egg Harbor and Sister Bay; popular online resources, such as Wikipedia.com; and tour companies, such as Colorado-based Timberline Adventures.
Babineau, editor of the Lighthouse Encyclopedia, claims Cape Cod’s Barnstable County in Massachusetts is the leader, with fifteen beacons. Brian Kelsey, director of the Door County Maritime Museum, chimes in with a no way to that amount, since of those fifteen, they don’t count since some have been moved or no longer exist.
So who’s the winner? Kelsey says New York’s Suffolk County (on Long Island) leads the pack, with fifteen of its original twenty six lighthouses still standing. Additionally, Southold, a town in Suffolk County claims to be the town with the most lighthouses, claiming the following:
- Little Gull Island
- Race Rock
- Latimer Reef
- Montauk Point
- Orient Point (Coffee Pot)
- Plum Island (Plum Gut)
- Horton Point
- Long Beach Bar (Bug Light)
The above list doesn’t include North Dumpling, deactivated and a private residence.
I guess what this means, is anywhere you go in Door County, Barnstable County, or Suffold County, you’re not very far from a lighthouse!
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