Lighthouses of the Midwestern United States

This page is for lighthouses of the land-locked states in the interior of the U.S., that is, those states that have no coastline on either the Atlantic, the Pacific, or the Great Lakes. There are 19 states in this category, but one of them, Arizona, has a separate page.

To be listed here, a lighthouse must actually serve as an aid to navigation. This means it must be located on a navigable lake or river and must be lit as a navigational aid at least during the local boating season. To my surprise, I've been able to find only four lighthouses (except in Arizona) meeting these conditions. If you know of others, please contact me.

There are thousands of miles of navigable water in the interior states, much of it on the Mississippi, the Missouri, the Ohio, and the other great rivers of the country. The Coast Guard maintains aids to navigation on the major river systems, but as far as I know there are no officially sanctioned lighthouses anywhere on those waterways. All the lighthouses listed here are privately maintained and unofficial.

General Sources
Lighthouse Explorer Database
Maintained by Lighthouse Digest, the Database lists a wide variety of lighthouses, even some that are not and could not be aids to navigation. If you don't find it here, try the Database.

Lighthouse Landing Light, Grand Rivers, Kentucky
photo copyright Lighthouse Landing; used by permission
Iowa Lighthouse
* Storm Lake (Siebens Memorial)
1992. Active; focal plane about 36 ft (11 m); flashing white light. 30 ft (9 m) brick tower with lantern; rotating aerobeacon. Built on the campus of Buena Vista University in memory of BVU trustee and benefactor Harold Walter Siebens. The university has a photo (first thumbnail in the second row). Located near the Siebens Field House on the north shore of the lake, in the town of Storm Lake in northwestern Iowa. Site open, tower closed. Owner/site manager: Buena Vista University.
Kentucky Lighthouse
* Lighthouse Landing (Grand Rivers)
2002. Active; focal plane approx. 30 ft (9 m); white light. Approx. 20 ft. (6 m) square pyramidal frame tower with lantern. Lighthouse painted white, lantern red. A photo appears above, and another good photo is available. The lighthouse marks the entrance to a marina on Kentucky Lake (Tennessee River) about one mile south of Kentucky Dam and Lock. Camping and rental cottages available on site. Located on KY 453 about three miles (5 km) south of I-24 exit 31 in Grand Rivers. Site open, tower closed. Owner/site manager: Lighthouse Landing.
Missouri Lighthouse
Duck Club Marina
Date unknown. Active; characteristics unknown. Approx. 11 m (36 ft) round bottle-shaped masonry tower with lantern, painted white with red trim. Steve Schulte has an excellent photo, and Google has a satellite view. The lighthouse marks the entrance to the marina, located on the Mississippi River at the end of Highway V (Blase Station Road) about 13 mi (20 km) north of St. Charles. This location is actually on the southeast side of the river, which twists to the north as it approaches its junction with the Illinois River. Google has a satellite view.

Oklahoma Lighthouse
* East Wharf (Lake Hefner)
1999. Active; focal plane approx. 35 ft (11 m); red light, 2 s on, 2 s off. 40 ft (12 m) hexagonal concrete tower with lantern, painted pale yellow; lantern is dark red. Beau Wade's photo is at right, another good closeup is available, Lighthouse Digest has a September 2003 feature on the lighthouse, and Google has a satellite view. The lighthouse marks the entrance to the marina in a commercial development on Lake Hefner, on the north side of Oklahoma City. It was prefabricated and erected by a "tilt-up" technique, for which it won an award. Located on the eastern shore of the lake, just off Lake Hefner Parkway. Site open, tower closed. Owner/site manager: East Wharf Development. ARLHS USA-1236.

East Wharf Light, July 2006
Creative Commons photo by Beau Wade

Notable faux lighthouses:

  • Lake Minatare Observation Tower (1939) near Scottsbluff, Nebraska, has never been lit as a lighthouse.
  • Linoma Beach (1939), at Ashland, Nebraska, is not an active lighthouse.
  • Mark Twain Memorial (1935), in Hannibal, Missouri, is active, but it is not on the river and does not serve as an aid to navigation. ARLHS USA-915.
  • Singing Towers, three of them, on the Mississippi River at Clinton, Iowa, have never been aids to navigation
  • Valleyview, near Dubuque, Iowa, is not located on navigable water.

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Posted July 15, 2003. Checked and revised June 19, 2008. Lighthouses: 4. Site copyright 2008 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.