Split Rock Lighthouse is a

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

located southwest of

Silver Bay, Minnesota Silver Bay is a city in Lake County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 1,857 at the time of the 2020 census. It is the largest population center in a natural tourism area which includes Tettegouche State Park and the Split Rock Lig ...

, US on the North Shore of

Lake Superior Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. Lake Michigan–Huron has a larger combined surface area than Superior, but is normally considered tw ...

. The structure was designed by lighthouse engineer Ralph Russell Tinkham and was completed in 1910 by the

United States Lighthouse Service The United States Lighthouse Service, also known as the Bureau of Lighthouses, was the agency of the United States Government and the general lighthouse authority for the United States from the time of its creation in 1910 as the successor of th ...

for $75,000, including the buildings and the land. It is considered one of the most picturesque lighthouses in the United States.

History

Split Rock Lighthouse was built in response to the great loss of ships during the famous

Mataafa Storm The ''Mataafa'' Storm of 1905 was a storm that occurred on the Great Lakes on November 27–28, 1905. The system moved across the Great Basin with moderate depth on November 26 and November 27, then east-northeastward across the Great Lakes on N ...

of 1905, during which 29 ships were lost or damaged on Lake Superior. One of these shipwrecks, the ''

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

'', is located just north of the lighthouse. The lighthouse stands on a sheer cliff eroded by wave action from a

diabase Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro, is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-gra ...

sill containing

inclusion Inclusion or Include may refer to: Sociology * Social inclusion, action taken to support people of different backgrounds sharing life together. ** Inclusion (disability rights), promotion of people with disabilities sharing various aspects of lif ...

s of

anorthosite Anorthosite () is a phaneritic, intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock characterized by its composition: mostly plagioclase feldspar (90–100%), with a minimal mafic component (0–10%). Pyroxene, ilmenite, magnetite, and olivine are the mafic ...

. The octagonal building is a steel-framed brick structure with concrete trim on a concrete foundation set into the rock of the cliff. It is topped with a large, steel lantern which features a third order, bi-valve type

Fresnel lens A Fresnel lens ( ; ; or ) is a type of composite compact lens (optics), lens which reduces the amount of material required compared to a conventional lens by dividing the lens into a set of concentric annular sections. The simpler Dioptrics, d ...

manufactured by Barbier, Bernard and Turenne Company in Paris. The tower was built for a second-order lens, but when construction went over budget, only enough funding remained for the smaller third-order lens. The lens floats on a bearing surface of liquid mercury which allows near frictionless operation. The lens is rotated by an elaborate clockwork mechanism that is powered by weights running down the center of the tower which are then reset by cranking them back to the top. When completed, the lighthouse was lit with a

kerosene Kerosene, or paraffin, is a combustibility, combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in Aviation fuel, aviation as well as households. Its name derives from the Greek (''kērós'') meaning " ...

oil vapor lamp. At the time of its construction, the area had no roads. All building materials and supplies arrived by water and were lifted to the top of the cliff by crane. The lamp was first lit on July 31, 1910. The lighthouse soon became a tourist attraction for sailors and excursion boats thanks to its scenic location. So much so, that in 1924 a road (now

Minnesota State Highway 61 Minnesota State Highway 61 (MN 61) is a highway in northeast Minnesota, which runs from a junction with Interstate 35 (I-35) in Duluth at 26th Avenue East, and continues northeast to its northern terminus at the Canadian border near Grand Po ...

) was built to allow land access. In 1940, the station was electrified, the lamp was replaced with a 1000-watt electric bulb, and the incandescent oil vapor lamp was moved to Au Sable Point Lighthouse in Northern Michigan. Split Rock was upgraded with a

fog signal A foghorn or fog signal is a device that uses sound to warn vehicles of navigational hazards such as rocky coastlines, or boats of the presence of other vessels, in foggy conditions. The term is most often used in relation to marine transport. ...

housed in a building next to the light tower. The original signal was a pair of sirens driven by two Franklin gasoline-driven air compressors manufactured by Chicago Pneumatic Tool Company. In 1932 gasoline engines were replaced with diesel engines. The steam sirens were replaced with a Type F-2-T

diaphone The diaphone is a noisemaking device best known for its use as a foghorn: It can produce deep, powerful tones, able to carry a long distance. Although they have fallen out of favor, diaphones were also used at some fire stations and in other situ ...

(be-you) type signal in 1936. The station and the fog signal were electrified four years later, but discontinued in 1961. The light was retired in 1969 by the U.S. Coast Guard. The lighthouse is now part of the

Split Rock Lighthouse State Park Split Rock Lighthouse State Park is a state park of Minnesota on the North Shore (Lake Superior), North Shore of Lake Superior. It is best known for the picturesque Split Rock Lighthouse, one of the most photographed lighthouses in the United St ...

and is operated by the

Minnesota Historical Society The Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Educational institution, educational and cultural institution dedicated to preserving the history of the U.S. state of Minnesota. It was founded by the Minnesota Terr ...

. The site includes the original tower and lens, the fog signal building, the oil house, and the three keepers' houses. It is restored to appear as it did in the late 1920s. The site was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1969. Notwithstanding its retirement, every November 10 the lighthouse emits a light in memory of the SS ''Edmund Fitzgerald'' which sank on that date in 1975. On June 30, 2011, the lighthouse was designated as a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

. The lighthouse keeper, Lee Radzak, worked at the lighthouse from 1982 to 2019, the longest tenure of any lighthouse keeper at the site.

In art

The

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...

issued a stamp that featured the light on June 17, 1995. It was one of five lighthouses chosen for the "Lighthouses of the Great Lakes" series postage stamp designed by Howard Koslow in 1995. There was one lighthouse chosen on each of the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

. The five lighthouses are Split Rock Light on

, St Joseph Light on

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...

Spectacle Reef Light Spectacle Reef Light is a lighthouse east of the Straits of Mackinac and is located at the northern end of Lake Huron, Michigan. It was designed and built by Colonel Orlando Metcalfe Poe and Major Godfrey Weitzel, and was the most expensive lig ...

Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is shared on the north and east by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the south and west by the U.S. state of Michigan. The name of the lake is derived from early French ex ...

, Marblehead Light (Ohio) on

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...

and Thirty Mile Point Light on

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The Canada–United Sta ...

. Because of its picturesque form and location, it has been the subject of many

photographs A photograph (also known as a photo, or more generically referred to as an ''image'' or ''picture'') is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor. The process and pra ...

and

postcard A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. In some places, one can send a postcard f ...

s. The lighthouse was also in the 2013 film

The Great Gatsby ''The Great Gatsby'' () is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with Jay Gatsby, a mysterious mi ...

Gallery

File:Fresnel lenses rotating at Split Rock Lighthouse.webm File:Interior stairs at Split Rock Lighthouse.jpg, Interior stairs in Lighthouse File:Split Rock Lighthouse evening.jpg, Distance view Image:SplitRockLighthouse AerialView.jpg, Aerial view File:Lighthouse keepers' homes.jpg,

Lighthouse keeper A lighthouse keeper or lightkeeper is a person responsible for tending and caring for a lighthouse, particularly the light and lens in the days when oil lamps and clockwork mechanisms were used. Lighthouse keepers were sometimes referred to as ...

s' dwellings File:Fog Signal Building, Split Rock Lighthouse.jpg, Fog signal building File:Split Rock Lighthouse - Lake County, Minnesota - 8 Jan. 2009.jpg, Lighthouse in winter Image:Splitrockconstruction_1909.jpg, Construction, 1909 File:Split Rock Lighthouse (1986835377).jpg, Light illuminated File:3rd-order,_Fresnel_lens_at_Split_Rock.jpg, 3rd-order, Fresnel lens File:Mercury_bowl_and_float_of_Split_Rock_lens.jpg, Mercury bowl and float of Fresnel lens File:North Shore Trip - Fall 2012 - Split Rock Clockworks (8061058683).jpg, Lighthouse lens crank File:1968-09-XX - Russell Split Rock Lighthouse - Minnesota.jpg, September 1968

Records

Original, microfilmed, and photocopied records of the lighthouse keepers, containing daily entries on station activities and upkeep; expenditures; weather; shipping conditions; visitors; and social events on Lake Superior's north shore during the shipping season are available for research use at the Minnesota Historical Society.

References

External links

* *
Minnesota Historical Society: Split Rock LighthouseSplit Rock Lighthouse Weblog
- Official Blog *

Historic American Engineering Record Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS). It administers three programs established to document historic places in the United States: Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American E ...