Eagle Harbor Light stands at the rocky entrance to Eagle Harbor on Lake Superior’s Keweenaw Peninsula as part of a chain of lights that guided shipping along this exposed shore. The harbor became increasingly important during the mid-19th-century copper boom, when hazardous approaches and growing traffic led to construction of the first lighthouse in 1851. That original structure soon deteriorated and was replaced in 1871 by the current red-brick tower and dwelling, built to serve Eagle Harbor’s role as a refuge and supply point. Congress transferred ownership of the station in 1999 to the Keweenaw County Historical Society, while the Coast Guard still operates the light.