Granite Island Lighthouse, built on Lake Superior in 1868 and commissioned in 1869, served busy shipping lanes with a stone light station that combined a keeper’s dwelling and square tower. Equipped over time with a Fresnel lens, fog bell, and later a steel fog signal building, it was staffed until automation in 1937 as navigation patterns shifted farther offshore. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, the island and lighthouse were sold to Scott and Martine Holman in 1999 and restored. The private sale figured in debates that helped lead to the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000.