W.H. Pugh Coal Co. v. State

This is a civil action brought to quiet title to a section of land along the Lake Michigan shore known as the Racine Coast Guard Station property. The trial court decided that the property belonged to the State because the State holds the lake bed in public trust. We hold that this land is an accretion to the property of the lakeshore landowner, and we reverse.

The United States Government erected a lighthouse on the bed of Lake Michigan around 1866. The lighthouse was located to the east of the lakeshore property owned by William H. Lathrop, the predecessor in interest of the plaintiff W.H.…