LIGHTHOUSES

After 6 years, Two Harbors lighthouse beacon will again sweep across Lake Superior

Dan Kraker / MPR News — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 19:29:55 GMT

DULUTH — It won’t just be fireworks lighting up the night sky in Two Harbors this Fourth of July.

For the first time in six years, the iconic light from the North Shore city’s lighthouse beacon 25 miles northeast of Duluth will once again sweep across Lake Superior.

The lighthouse’s light went dark in November 2019 due to a hardware failure. With help from the U.S. Coast Guard, four volunteer lighthouse keepers with the Lake County Historical Society — which owns the lighthouse— installed a temporary beacon so the facility could continue to operate as a private aid to navigation on the lake.

But it’s a flashing light, “that detracts a little bit from that iconic beacon that you see sweeping across Agate Bay,” said Ellen Lynch, executive director of the historical society.

So the organization began fundraising to purchase a new light. It raised $50,000 and bought an LED beacon from a Finnish company that mimics the rotational sweeping pattern of the original lighthouse.

And now the Lake County Historical Society plans to light the new beacon on Friday, July 4, as part of a celebration marking the 100th anniversary of the organization, just before the Independence Day fireworks show.

“This has been a long journey for us — from fundraising to installation — and we’re incredibly proud of what our community has accomplished,” said Sam Gangi, president of the historical society board.

The Two Harbors lighthouse is the oldest continuously operating light on the North Shore of Lake Superior. It was built in 1893 (17 years before the more well-known Split Rock Lighthouse was completed) to guide ships into the iron ore docks that were built in Agate Bay a decade earlier.

The Historical Society took ownership of the structure in 1999. It operates a museum and bed-and-breakfast, and is also responsible to the U.S. Coast Guard for keeping it lit as a “private aid to navigation.” And now that light will look much like it did over a century ago.

“The new beacon will bring back that iconic sweep and signature of our original light and be as close as possible to the original,” Lynch said.

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This story was originally published on MPRNews.org.

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Home sweet lighthouse: Willmar resident writes book about his 36 years caring for the Split Rock Lighthouse

Shelby Lindrud — Sun, 21 Aug 2022 10:05:00 GMT

WILLMAR — When Lee Radzak started to write a book about the job he held for 36 years, his wife, Jane, wasn't sure how important or necessary their family's experiences were to the narrative.

"To me, we just lived our life like everybody else does," Jane said. "What do we have that is different than anyone else's life?"

But, when your home for those 36 years is arguably one of the best-known locations in Minnesota, people are naturally curious about what it was like to live there. Because, you see, Lee was the historic site manager for Split Rock Lighthouse overlooking Lake Superior on Minnesota's North Shore. The family lived in one of the historic keeper houses — just steps away from the famous lighthouse — for nearly four decades.

"It was a great place to live, and the job was fantastic," Lee said. "There was so much variety living right on the edge of Lake Superior."

After his retirement in 2019, the couple moved to Jane's hometown of Willmar. Lee was approached about writing a book about his time as the lighthouse's keeper. The book, "The View from Split Rock," published by the Minnesota Historical Society Press in 2021, tells the story of the lighthouse, Lee's work at the site and the family's adventures from fall through summer, living above the crashing waves of the largest Great Lake.

"Both our job and our personal life was ruled by the seasons. Jane came up with the idea to organize the book by the seasons," Lee said.

The book, priced at $19.95, can be purchased online at the historical society's website at shop.mnhs.org/products/view-split-rock.

Journey to Split Rock

Lee first started working for the Minnesota Historical Society as an archaeologist in 1976. He worked on the statewide archaeological survey, where teams of archaeologists traveled the state looking to uncover and record the state's prehistoric and historic sites and artifacts. In 1980, Lee spent the summer in Kandiyohi County.

"We were finding things 5,000 years old in the county," Lee said. The team even did a survey of Robbins Island in Willmar, finding evidence of human habitation.

Lee also met Jane during that summer. Her parents had Native American burial mounds near their lake property on Lake Henderson, and Jane's mother went to a presentation held by Lee and the other archaeologists. Jane's mom came home and told her daughter all about the nice young man she had met.

"Yes, my mother set us up," Jane said.

In 1982, the site manager position at the lighthouse came open and Lee applied. As someone who lived most of his life in the Twin Cities and loved northern Minnesota, the Split Rock job appealed to Lee, and also to Jane. The couple were married in the late summer of 1982.

"Three months later, we got the job at Split Rock and moved up there," Lee said.

Life at Split Rock

The newlyweds arrived at Split Rock, located about 10 miles from the city of Silver Bay, in November 1982, not exactly the best time to move. The house the couple was to move into, the middle home of the row of three keeper houses at the site, hadn't yet been prepared for winter.

"I was doing that in a snow storm, putting the storm windows on that first year," Lee said.

Lee and Jane had two children, John and Anna, both who lived their entire childhoods at the lighthouse.

Living at Split Rock can be isolating, since the nearest town with a grocery store is 10 miles away and winter storms can knock out power or make roads impassable for days at a time. On the other hand, the family also had to live with a lack of privacy for several months a year, as the site is a popular tourist attraction from late spring into fall.

Despite those challenges, it was a great place to grow up and raise a family, the couple shared.

As site manager, Lee had responsibility for the upkeep of the entire 25-acre MNHS lighthouse site. That included taking care of 11 historic buildings, hiring staff and maintaining good relationships with the local communities and other organizations like the Department of Natural Resources which oversees the 2,000-acre Split Rock Lighthouse State Park that surrounds the lighthouse.

"Basically it was the maintenance, preservation and interpretation of the historic site," Lee said.

Split Rock Lighthouse was operational from 1910 until 1969 when the United States Coast Guard decommissioned and deeded the lighthouse property, including all of the internal workings of the lighthouse, to the state of Minnesota. MNHS took over in 1976.

"It is really unique," Lee said, because it is one of just a few lighthouses still with its original lens and equipment — and operational. "Over the years it took a lot of work, different assessments, to keep it working and keep it accessible to the public."

Lee was only the second MNHS site manager for Split Rock.

During his 36-year tenure, the society built the visitor's center; the lighthouse was listed as a National Historic Landmark; tours of the site, including one of the keeper's houses and up into the lighthouse, were started; and a calendar-worth of programming was created.

"It is gratifying to look back on that and think what happened during our time there that is being carried on," Lee said.

Those accomplishments include the annual commemoration of the 1975 sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, a 729-foot iron ore carrier. On the 10th anniversary of the ship's sinking, Lee said he heard the popular song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" by Gordon Lightfoot on the radio. When he got back home, Lee told Jane he was going to turn the beacon light on in remembrance.

Every year since, the event has brought more and more people to the lighthouse, some even flying in from other states and countries. Because Split Rock is considered decommissioned, the beacon can't be lit all the time. The anniversaries of the Fitzgerald sinking and on July 31, the day the lighthouse was first operational, provide the rare chance for the public to see Split Rock in all its glory.

"People love a lighthouse," Lee said.

Saying goodbye to Split Rock

Over the years, Split Rock Lighthouse became busier and busier. New programming, social media and a campground within the state park were all set to continue growing that popularity.

By 2019, Lee and Jane felt it was time for them to hand the lighthouse over to its next keeper.

"It was time," Lee said.

The couple moved back to Willmar, in part to care for Jane's elderly mother. Shortly after retiring, Lee began work on his book. He was assisted by Curt Brown, a journalist and author.

"He was great to work with," Lee said. "We worked together well on it."

Following publication, Lee was invited back to the lighthouse to give presentations on his book. He also gave a talk at the Kandiyohi County Historical Society.

Even though Lee and Jane have been living in Willmar for nearly three years already, they are still getting used to living away from the rural and wild area around Split Rock. The weather in Willmar is different, and Jane has found it hard to break the habit of stocking up on essentials. They do sometimes miss living at Split Rock, especially the aspects that made it such a unique home, such as the massive storms blowing off the lake or living so close with nature.

The Radzaks' time at Split Rock accounted for nearly a third of the lighthouse's existence. It is a time Lee and Jane will always look back on as well-spent. While Split Rock might just be a beautiful scenic site for many of its visitors, for the Radzaks, it will always be something more special.

"It is home," Jane said. "It is where your memories are."

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Wisconsin’s Superior Lighthouse sells for $159K

Forum News Service — Sat, 31 Aug 2019 00:31:04 GMT

SUPERIOR, Wis. — The Superior Lighthouse has a new owner.

The over 100-year-old lighthouse — which sits at the end of Wisconsin Point — sold for $159,000 this week. It will continue to be used as a lighthouse, and the new owner will have to maintain its condition to match historic preservation standards, according to reporting from the Superior Telegram.

United States General Services Administration spokeswoman Cat Langel confirmed that the high bid came from Steven Broudy of California. She did not have information on what Broudy intends to do with the lighthouse.

It's a five-story structure, with a basement, two floors of a main building that has living quarters and a light tower surrounded by a lantern.

Zoning of the lighthouse area is suburban, meaning it could be used as a house, community building, seasonal cabin, church or educational institution, among others.

The lighthouse is limited by the hours of Wisconsin Point, as people can visit and camp on the point from 4 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Bidding on the lighthouse started in July, and nine bidders placed bids throughout the following weeks as they tried to secure the purchase.

The lighthouse was first lit in 1913 after two years of construction, and then automated in 1970.

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Want to own a lighthouse? You'll need at least $10K

Forum News Service — Wed, 17 Jul 2019 18:32:46 GMT

SUPERIOR, Wis. — The Superior Entry lighthouse is for sale. It is one of three lighthouses being auctioned off by the U.S. General Services Administration as part of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act.

An online auction for the Superior lighthouse began July 10 with a minimum bid of $10,000 required. As of Wednesday, July 17, there had been one bid for the Superior structure, which was built in 1913. No ending date has been set.

The lighthouse encompasses five stories: a basement, a two-story main area with living quarters and a light tower surmounted by a lantern. The light would continue to serve as an active navigation aid and remain the property of the U.S. Coast Guard, which will maintain an easement to service it.

Because the lighthouse sits at the end of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers breakwater, a lease from the Corps would be required.

In addition to the Superior building, the Poe Reef Lighthouse 6 miles east of Cheboygan, Mich., and the Ontonagon Breakwater Light on Michigan's Upper Peninsula are also being auctioned. Those sales began June 20 with starting bids of $50,000 and $5,000, respectively.

The National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act has sold or transferred 139 lighthouses out of federal ownership since it began in 2000, finding new owners for the historic structures. Visit realestatesales.gov for additional information or to place a bid.

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