Split Rock Lighthouse

Creator:
Color photograph of Split Rock Lighthouse, c.2000
Split Rock Lighthouse Station. Photographed by Dennis Adams of the Federal Highway Administration c.2000.

Split Rock Lighthouse opened in the summer of 1910 to guide bulk ore ships sailing near Lake Superior's rocky coast. By 1940, its picturesque North Shore setting had made it one of the most visited lighthouses in the United States.

In the early years of the twentieth century, iron ore shipments on Lake Superior doubled and redoubled. United States Steel's bulk ore carriers became "the greatest exclusive freight-carrying fleet sailing under one ownership in the world." The demand for a new lighthouse on the lake's inhospitable North Shore was hardly surprising.

A single storm on November 28, 1905 damaged twenty-nine ships. One-third of them were the uninsured property of the steel company fleet. Two of these carriers foundered on the rocky coastline, in an area which some called "the most dangerous piece of water in the world." A delegation led by the steamship company president descended upon Washington, D.C. In early 1907, Congress appropriated $75,000 for a lighthouse and fog signal in the vicinity of Split Rock.

The construction of Split Rock Lighthouse was an engineering feat carried out by an organization already known for building structures in remote locations. The Duluth construction firm of L. D. Campbell & Son supplied all the labor necessary: carpenters; brick masons; demolition men for dynamiting the hard rock of the cliff to build foundations; and laborers collected from all over the Great Lakes region.

The first challenge in the spring of 1909 was to erect a steam-powered hoist and derrick for lifting supplies off the boats on the lake, more than 110 feet below. A construction crew of thirty-five to fifty men was supplied by boat throughout the construction period.

By the time Split Rock Light Station was completed, workers had spent thirteen months on the desolate cliff, with a break only during the worst months of winter. The light was lit on July 31, 1910.

When the first keepers arrived at Split Rock in the summer of 1910, it was a remote and barren place. The few trees that grew on the cliff top had been cut down during construction, so the wind howled constantly.

Because the station was isolated by the lake and had no land access, supplies and visitors could come only by boat. Their visits proved to be infrequent. Getting to the lighthouse was so difficult in those early years that many families of the keepers would come only for short visits, leaving for their winter homes when school started. They were joined by the keepers when the station was decommissioned for the annual winter shutdown in December.

In 1924, Lake Superior International Highway was built along the North Shore. It eventually linked all of the shoreline from Duluth to Canada. The highway made it easier for supplies, visitors, and keepers' wives and children to get to the lighthouse.

By the 1930s, the keepers were living with their families at the station through the winter layoff. Children boarded buses for school in Beaver Bay and Two Harbors. Keepers found it necessary to ask the Lighthouse Service headquarters for guidance on how to work amid the influx of visitors. It also became necessary to erect safety fences along the cliff's edge.

The keepers' tools changed as well. Kerosene lamps and gasoline-powered fog horns gave way to electric lights and compressors. The basic job, however, remained the same: round-the-clock manning of the navigational equipment. Maintenance still occupied most of the keepers' days, and they could look forward to spending only a supper and maybe a quiet evening with their families before the night watches started.

The station closed in 1969 when modern navigational equipment (including radar and LORAN, or long range navigation) made it obsolete. The State of Minnesota obtained the scenic landmark in 1971, and afterward, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources began operating Split Rock Lighthouse State Park, a 2,200-acre site offering hiking, picnicking, and tent camping to visitors. In 1976, the Minnesota Historical Society added Split Rock Lighthouse to its network of historic sites.

Cite
Radzak, Lee. "Split Rock Lighthouse." MNopedia, Minnesota Historical Society. https://www3.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/structure/split-rock-lighthouse
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© Minnesota Historical Society  80x15  Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported
First Published: December 09, 2013
Last Modified: April 10, 2025

Bibliography

Hall, Stephen P. Split Rock: Epoch of a Lighthouse. Minnesota Historic Sites pamphlet series, no. 15. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, 1978.

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Related Audio

MN90: The Lure of the Lighthouse | Details
MN90: The Lighthouse Keeper's Mistake | Details

MN90: The Lure of the Lighthouse

For decades, the majority of functioning lighthouses have operated mechanically, without a resident lighthouse keeper to keep things going. Yet tourists still flock to sites like Split Rock to ponder the lighthouse keeper s lifestyle. What is it about a lighthouse that keeps us wondering?
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MN90: The Lighthouse Keeper's Mistake

Split Rock Lighthouse has been a fixture of Northern Minnesota for generations. But few know the story behind its shaky beginning. What happens when an overeager new lighthouse keeper jumps the gun?
© Minnesota Historical Society and Ampers    

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Related Images

Color photograph of Split Rock Lighthouse, c.2000
Split Rock Lighthouse Station. Photographed by Dennis Adams of the Federal Highway Administration c.2000.
Split Rock Lighthouse blueprint
Sectional diagram of the Split Rock tower. Created no earlier than 1907 and no later than 1969.
Black and white photograph of Split Rock Lighthouse being built c.1909.
Photograph of Split Rock Lighthouse being built c.1909.
Color image of U.S. Light House Service uniform hat.
United States Light House Service uniform hat worn by Orren Young, the first head light keeper at Split Rock Light Station. Young wore the hat between 1910 and 1928.
Black and white photograph of Split Rock Light Station and a tram car c.1916.
Photograph of Split Rock Light Station and a tram car, c.1916.
Black and white photograph of Franklin J. Covell by the Split Rock Lighthouse lens.
Photograph of first assistant (and eventual head light keeper) Franklin J. Covell standing next to the Split Rock Lighthouse lens c.1920.
Black and white photograph of Split Rock Station c.1930.
Photograph of Split Rock Station c.1930.
Black and white photograph of Fog signal equipment at Split Rock Lighthouse.
Photograph of fog signal equipment (gasoline air compressors) inside Split Rock Lighthouse. Date unknown.
Black and white photograph of Split Rock Lighthouse. Norton & Peel, September 1, 1939.
Photograph of Split Rock Lighthouse. Norton & Peel, September 1, 1939.
Black and white photograph of Assistant keeper Tom Hassing standing next to diesel air compressors at Split Rock Lighthouse c.1945.
Assistant keeper Tom Hassing stands next to diesel air compressors at Split Rock Lighthouse c.1945.
Black and white photograph of Split Rock Lighthouse by Eugene Debs Becker taken in August of 1959.
Photograph of Split Rock Lighthouse by Eugene Debs Becker taken in August of 1959.
Map of Split Rock Station
Map of the Split Rock Lighthouse historic site c.2010.
Color photograph of Split Rock Lighthouse, c.2000

Split Rock Lighthouse

Split Rock Lighthouse Station. Photographed by Dennis Adams of the Federal Highway Administration c.2000.

Public domain

Split Rock Lighthouse blueprint

Split Rock tower blueprint

Sectional diagram of the Split Rock tower. Created no earlier than 1907 and no later than 1969.

Public domain

Holding Location

Minnesota Historical Society
Black and white photograph of Split Rock Lighthouse being built c.1909.

Split Rock Lighthouse under construction

Photograph of Split Rock Lighthouse being built c.1909.

Public domain

Holding Location

Minnesota Historical Society
Color image of U.S. Light House Service uniform hat.

U.S. Light House Service uniform hat

United States Light House Service uniform hat worn by Orren Young, the first head light keeper at Split Rock Light Station. Young wore the hat between 1910 and 1928.
© Minnesota Historical Society    

All rights reserved

Holding Location

Minnesota Historical Society
Black and white photograph of Split Rock Light Station and a tram car c.1916.

Split Rock Light Station and Tram Car

Photograph of Split Rock Light Station and a tram car, c.1916.

Public domain

Holding Location

Minnesota Historical Society
Black and white photograph of Franklin J. Covell by the Split Rock Lighthouse lens.

Franklin J. Covell by the Split Rock Lighthouse lens

Photograph of first assistant (and eventual head light keeper) Franklin J. Covell standing next to the Split Rock Lighthouse lens c.1920.

Public domain

Holding Location

Minnesota Historical Society
Black and white photograph of Split Rock Station c.1930.

Split Rock Station c.1930

Photograph of Split Rock Station c.1930.

Holding Location

Minnesota Historical Society
Black and white photograph of Fog signal equipment at Split Rock Lighthouse.

Fog signal equipment at Split Rock Lighthouse

Photograph of fog signal equipment (gasoline air compressors) inside Split Rock Lighthouse. Date unknown.

Holding Location

Minnesota Historical Society
Black and white photograph of Split Rock Lighthouse. Norton & Peel, September 1, 1939.

Split Rock Lighthouse

Photograph of Split Rock Lighthouse. Norton & Peel, September 1, 1939.

Holding Location

Minnesota Historical Society
Black and white photograph of Assistant keeper Tom Hassing standing next to diesel air compressors at Split Rock Lighthouse c.1945.

Tom Hassing at Split Rock Lighthouse

Assistant keeper Tom Hassing stands next to diesel air compressors at Split Rock Lighthouse c.1945.

Holding Location

Minnesota Historical Society
Black and white photograph of Split Rock Lighthouse by Eugene Debs Becker taken in August of 1959.

Split Rock Lighthouse

Photograph of Split Rock Lighthouse by Eugene Debs Becker taken in August of 1959.

Holding Location

Minnesota Historical Society
Map of Split Rock Station

Map of Split Rock Station

Map of the Split Rock Lighthouse historic site c.2010.
© Minnesota Historical Society     80x15  Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported

Turning Point

In 1924, construction crews complete the Lake Superior International Highway along the North Shore. Visitation to Split Rock increases as tourists take advantage of the new route.

Chronology

1905
A late November gale damages twenty-nine ships on Lake Superior.
1907
Congress appropriates $75,000 for a light station and fog signal in the vicinity of Spilt Rock.
1910
Split Rock Light station is commissioned, and Orren "Pete" Young begins his tenure as head keeper. He goes on to hold this position for eighteen years.
1924
Lake Superior International Highway is completed along a route that passes by Split Rock Lighthouse. The first tourists visit the site by car.
1928
Franklin J. Covell begins his tenure as Split Rock's head keeper, a position he will hold for sixteen years.
1933
Lighthouse tenders make their last visits to Split Rock Station.
1939
The Lighthouse Service is absorbed by the U.S. Coast Guard.
1940
Split Rock Station is electrified. Its incandescent oil vapor lamp is replaced by a one-thousand-watt bulb; electric motors operate both its lens and its fog signal.
1942
The U.S. Coast Guard is taken over by the U.S. Navy for the remainder of World War II. Lightkeepers became "commanding officers."
1961
Split Rock's fog signal is discontinued. Its light is continued.
1969
Split Rock Station is decommissioned. Its site is placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
1975
On November 10, the Edmund Fitzgerald and her twenty-nine crew members are lost on Lake Superior.
1976
The Minnesota Historical Society begins to administer Split Rock Station, which becomes a state historic site.
2010
Split Rock Lighthouse turns one hundred.
2011
Split Rock Lighthouse gains National Historic Landmark status.

Bibliography

Hall, Stephen P. Split Rock: Epoch of a Lighthouse. Minnesota Historic Sites pamphlet series, no. 15. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, 1978.

Related Resources