Sheboygan North Point Jetties

There are a total of 26 jetties built in Sheboygan, protecting it from Lake Michigan. These jetties are structures that extend into the water and protect the shore from currents and tides. The building of these jetties was originally proposed in 1934 by mayor William Sonnenburg, and construction began in 1937. Although many of these jetties are now in disrepair, they remain a part of Sheboygan history.

There are a total of twenty-six jetties built along the shoreline of Sheboygan, protecting it from Lake Michigan. Although there are jetties throughout the Sheboygan shoreline, our stop will be at the four jetties off of Broughton Drive just north of North Side Municipal Beach.

A jetty is a structure that projects from land out into a body of water. They are long, narrow structures that are used to protect the shoreline from currents and tides. What’s the difference between a jetty and a pier? A jetty is made of wood, stone or concrete blocks and is built off of the lakebed to protect a harbor or beach, whereas a pier is a raised platform built from the shore out over the water and is supported on pilings. Jetties are also used as mooring points for boats, and are popular spots for diving, sunbathing, and fishing.

There are four jetties between North Point and North Side Beach off of Broughton Drive, five along the shore near Vollrath Park and the Water Utility Plant, and seventeen along the southside shoreline from Mead Avenue to the Water Treatment Plant.

At a Sheboygan Common Council meeting on September 6, 1934, mayor William Sonnenburg recommended that a lakeshore project be undertaken to develop a lake shore drive and construction of jetties. The jetties would be built to protect the new roadway from erosion and aid in building a larger, natural beach area. The country was in the depths of the Great Depression at this time and many were out of work. This project would provide 50 - 100 men with desperately needed work.

Construction began on June 15, 1937 for the first four jetties, located north of what was then known as Northside Bathing Beach. It was a part of the Works Progress Administration Project that was building a lake shore drive from Erie Avenue to Lincoln Avenue. The WPA was an American New Deal agency established in 1935 during the Great Depression that employed millions of people to carry out public works projects including the construction of public buildings and roads. A total of 75 men worked for the duration of the project. After six months, the project was finished and cost $53,000 ($975,000 in today’s currency). Sidney Woods, the inventor of the process used to build the jetties said that “Sheboygan’s jetties were the finest pieces of construction of this type I have ever seen anywhere.”

The following year, four jetties were built at the Water Treatment Plant on the South Side. They were built in the same way as the North Point jetties by laying them on the lake bed. These were replaced ten years later when another jetty project began in 1948. The new jetties would reach from the Water Treatment Plant up to Mead Avenue. They were constructed using a new method that drove pilings into the lake bed using compressed air. Once driven to the desired depth, seventeen foot long sections of concrete were fitted over the pilings in a crib fashion with concrete slabs then laid on top for a safe, flat surface. Concrete blocks were also used to create openings for sand to be carried through and deposited to build up a natural sandy shoreline. The final two jetties built at Mead Avenue were completed in 1951.

The jetties on the southside were built to develop a beach area at Lakeview Park, but more importantly to fight shoreline erosion at the Water Treatment Plant and areas with bluffs. At points along the shoreline, there were 40 feet of sand deposits from the bluffs into the lake. The jetty extension helped to break the waves away from the shoreline so there is less force hitting the shore.

The same year that construction began on the South Side, an additional five jetties were built on the North Side to protect the Water Utility Plant and the newly developed Vollrath Park shoreline. These jetties were built in the new method just as the southside jetties were.

The jetties found along Sheboygan’s shoreline have weathered the storms of Lake Michigan for over seventy years. Some are particularly run down and damaged from the abuse of the waves, while a few are completely submerged. There is discussion as to the future of jetties and their usefulness, but for decades these twenty-six jetties have stood guard protecting Sheboygan’s shores. 

Dippel, Beth. History Uncovered: Sheboygan's Broughton Drive, The Sheboygan Sun. July 6th, 2022. Accessed November 3rd, 2023. https://www.sheboygansun.com/history/history-uncovered-sheboygans-broughton-drive/article_7844b934-fd64-11ec-a478-d379886f3633.html#:~:text=The%20jetties%20extended%20from%2060,75%20men%20for%20six%20months.

"Sheboygan Bathing Beach is Enlarged by Use of Jetties." The Sheboygan Press (Sheboygan) May 9th, 1940.16.

Dippel, Beth. Sheboygan History: WPA projects leave lasting legacy, The Sheboygan Press. May 8th, 2015. Accessed November 3rd, 2023. https://www.sheboyganpress.com/story/life/2015/05/08/sheboygan-county-history/27003165/.