Yesterday I was telling you about my trip to Duluth.
In addition to the aerial lift bridge...
But that wasn't the only lighthouse I saw while I was in town!
Behold, the Duluth Harbor North Pier lighthouse!
Built in 1910, it's a lovely little light!
Standing 37 feet high...
It still houses it's original 5th order Fresnel lens.
Unlike the light I showed you yesterday, this lighthouse is still owned by the Coast Guard.
As I was doing research on this light, I learned that the lighthouse keepers used to check on the light through a tunnel! According to Lighthouse Digest:
However, very few people are aware of the tunnels that were constructed under the piers specifically to allow the keeper to reach the towers in inclement weather without fear of being washed off the pier by a wave or slipping off the ice-covered walkway and into the frigid waters of Lake Superior. Those tunnels, unique in lighthouse history, came complete with a cable-operated car, which provided the lighthouse keeper a means to reach the lighthouse more quickly than walking. However, by [1917] they had stopped using the tunnels, believing they were no longer safe. By that time, according to Hanson [lighthouse keeper from 1917-1947], the tunnels, more often than not, had two feet of water in them from seepage. After all, he recounted, he was a lighthouse keeper, not a miner and he felt much safer topside.
But this wasn't the last lighthouse I was to see in Duluth...
Because across the canal I spotted the Duluth Harbor South Breakwater Outer lighthouse.
This house was built in 1901. At 35 feet tall, the brick tower with lantern and gallery (housing the original 4th order Fresnel lens) is mounted on a brick fog signal building.
The lighthouse is painted white, while the lantern roof and fog signal building roof are red. In addition to the light, the fog horn has been restored to it's original signal: two 3 second blasts every 60 seconds.
Want to know another interesting tidbit? According to this website:
In 2003 the [Duluth] city council approved a proposal of TOOT Inc. (reTurn Our Old Tone) to operate the diaphones during daylight hours, but the modern (and softer) signal is used at night.
I tell you- the lighthouses that are still standing around the great lakes never cease to amaze me!
And the fact that I got to visit 3 such lights on a single point of land in Duluth was absolutely great!
Thanks for stopping by- I hope you have a great day!
