Split Rock Lighthouse

Split Rock Lighthouse rises on a 133-foot cliff along Lake Superior’s North Shore near Silver Bay, Minnesota. Built by the United States Lighthouse Service and completed in 1910 after the disastrous 1905 Mataafa Storm, it served a dangerous stretch of water where ships had been lost or damaged. Its remote cliffside location required materials to be brought by water and lifted by crane, and its tower held a Paris-made Fresnel lens that operated with mercury and clockwork before later electrification. Retired in 1969, the lighthouse survives as a restored historic site, recognized nationally and still lit each November 10 in memory of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald.

Minnesota · United States