Tonight the beacon was lit at Split Rock Lighthouse as remembrance of the sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald and loss of the entire crew of 29 men during a storm on November 10, 1975 on Lake Superior. The freighter passed by this lighthouse the afternoon earlier, but it sank before reaching Whitefish Bay.
Split Rock Lighthouse
Today is National Lighthouse Day and one of my favorite lighthouses is Split Rock Lighthouse on a 133 foot cliff on Lake Superior, north of Duluth, MN. The light, first lit in 1910, was retired in 1969 by the U.S. Coast Guard and now is operated by the Minnesota Historical Society.
A Favorite Lighthouse
This evening the beacon will be burning bright in the Split Rock Lighthouse lantern room to celebrate the first time the third order Fresnel was lit back on July 31, 1910. Normally the retired lighthouse beacon is not lit so it is a treat when it shines across the water and maybe one year I can be there in person to view.
Since there were no roads in the area at the time of construction, all the building materials and supplies arrived by water and hoisted to the top of the 130 foot cliff but Split Rock Lighthouse became such a tourist attraction so a road was built to it in 1924.
Seeing the Light Again
On July 31, 1910, the the beacon of Split Rock Lighthouse was first lit. The lighthouse was built in response to the loss of ships due to the Mataafa Storm of 1905 on Lake Superior. There were no roads in the area so all materials and building supplies came by boats and had to be lifted to the top of the 133 foot cliff.
Lighting the Beacon
This lighthouse keeper won’t be greeting any visitors to Split Rock Lighthouse for a while as the historic site is closed during the pandemic. The historic site tells the stories of the lighthouse keepers and their life, duties and families in the early 1920s.
Split Rock Lighthouse Keeper
On a nice sunny day, the lighthouse foghorns were not needed but in inclement conditions like today, they were critical to the safety of ship crews before modern technology. The foghorns at Split Rock Lighthouse were first heard in 1910 at a 20 second interval in foggy conditions and could be heard roughly 5 miles away. The first ones were a siren-blast and after 1936 they were a type F diaphone. The foghorns went silent in 1961 as technology changed and reportedly as favor to a nearby resort owner. The Minnesota Historical Society took over the decommissioned lighthouse in 1976 and replica foghorns were placed atop the fog signal building in 1979 but the only sound heard now is a recording of the horn inside the building.
Split Rock Lighthouse Foghorns
Today marked the 44th anniversary of the sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald in a November storm on Lake Superior with the loss of all 29 men aboard. The Fitzgerald passed by Split Rock Lighthouse as it left Superior harbor on that final voyage, and so this evening a ceremony was held at the lighthouse honoring the men lost by tolling a bell for each as their name was read and lighting the beacon (which is normally not lit since the lighthouse’s retirement).
Remembering the Sinking
On August 7, 1789, the United States Congress approved an act for the “establishment and support of Lighthouse, Beacons, Buoys, and Public Piers.” It was two hundred years later that Congress designated August 7 as National Lighthouse Day which honors the beacon of lights found across America’s shorelines which for hundreds of years symbolized the safety for ships at sea.
National Lighthouse Day
Some of the historical sites and parks in the area probably had more visitors on this nice Sunday day before the winter season arrives. Split Rock Lighthouse was completed in 1910 and the light shone until 1969. Now it is restored to its 1920s appearance so visitors are offered a glimpse of lighthouse life in this remote and spectacular setting.
Split Rock Lighthouse
On the western shore of Lake Superior, a new beacon of light shone across its water for the first time on July 31, 1910, when the third order Fresnel was lit in the new Split Rock Lighthouse on a 130 foot cliff.
Since there were no roads in the area at the time of construction, all the building materials and supplies arrived by water and hoisted to the top of the cliff but Split Rock Lighthouse became such a tourist attraction so a road was built to it in 1924.
Light on the Rocks
