Asylum Point Lighthouse

Asylum Point Lighthouse is one of Oshkosh’s more unusual historic landmarks: a small, cream-brick lighthouse standing on a man-made island in Lake Winnebago at Asylum Point Park. Built in 1937 as a Works Progress Administration-era project, the roughly 24-foot tower was never authorized as an official navigational light and therefore never operated as a conventional lighthouse. The structure is tied to the history of the Asylum Bay Rough Fish Station, where commercial fishing once played a major role. Wisconsin Historical Society records note that the lighthouse was used to help bring fishing boats into the station, with a lantern hung inside despite the tower never being officially licensed as a navigational aid.

The lighthouse sits on an artificial island created by filling marshland, and the surrounding area was once a much busier waterfront with fishing operations, boat-building activity and fish-trapping equipment. The rough fish station reportedly processed enormous quantities of carp for markets in Chicago and New York, making this quiet stretch of Lake Winnebago part of a surprisingly significant commercial fishing operation. After more than four decades of neglect, the lighthouse received a major restoration in 2007, including replacement sections of the lantern room, refitted windows and a rebuilt metal roof. Today, visitors can walk across the pedestrian bridge to the island, although the lighthouse itself is closed to the public. Asylum Point Park also offers walking trails, shoreline fishing, a boat launch, picnic areas and views across Lake Winnebago, making the lighthouse an easy stop for anyone exploring the stranger corners of Oshkosh’s history.

Along the trails in the woods you’ll discover the Winnebago Mental Health Institute cemetery, where 244 patients of the Northern State Hospital for the Insane were buried over the period of 100 years.