Split Rock Lighthouse

There are many things I like about Two Harbors, Minnesota. But visiting Split Rock Lighthouse was a delight! We went at the end of September just before the leaves changed. The view was still beautiful, but I think that if we had gone just a couple weeks later, the color change of the trees would add a lovely bit to the experience. We plan on visiting again next year to see all that.

Walking the stairs that went down to the pump house was cool, because you could still see some original lines where supplies was pulled up to the lighthouse since there weren't any roads when it was being built. Along the stairs were little points with a bench to sit and little facts about the park.

There is more to see than just the lighthouse itself. You can actually walk through the house that the keeper and their family stayed in and view some cool items that they would have used while it was in operation. There's also the fog signal building, oil house, pump house and a visitor center where you can grab a souvenir, a short movie on the history of the lighthouse you can view, and a gallery with facts about the lighthouse and storm of 1905.

There are also trails you can walk that lead you down a long staircase to the pump house and along more trails down to pebble beach, a very cool beach comprised of an incredible amount of rocks of all sizes.

History of the Lighthouse

Split Rock Lighthouse was designed by engineer Ralph Russell Tinkham, completed in 1910 and lit on July 31st of the same year. It was built in response to devastating loss during the Mataafa Storm of 1905, during which 29 ships were lost or damaged on Lake Superior, Minnesota. One of the ships that was wrecked was the Madeira, which is located just north of the lighthouse.

Another great loss that was experienced on Lake Superior was the devastating sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald on November 10th 1975. The lighthouse was not in operation at the time, but now every November 10 the lighthouse emits a light in memory of the 29 crew members lost that day.

When the lighthouse was constructed, there were no roads that went to the lighthouse. All of the building materials and supplies including food arrived by water and were lifted to the top of the cliff by a crane. The staircase you can walk down the cliff follows the path that the supplies were transported to the top. However, due to the amount of tourists that the lighthouse attracted, in 1924 a road (now MN-61) was built to allow land access.

In 1940, the lighthouse was electrified and the lamp was replaced with a 1000-watt electric bulb and upgraded with a fog signal house. The incandescent oil vapor lamp, which was originally used, was moved to Au Sable Point Lighthouse in Michigan. In 1940 the fog house and the lighthouse were both electrified, and discontinued in 1961. The lighthouse was officially retired in 1969 by the U.S Coast Guard and added to the National Register of Historic Places, and is now operated by the Minnesota Historical Society.