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Sitting high atop the cliffs, looking more like a massive fortress built by King Neptune himself, Minnesota’s Split Rock Lighthouse Station has now stood guard over the beautiful yet treacherous waters of Lake Superior for 100 years. When looking at the light station from the air, you can almost imagine that the extraordinary array of buildings were built as the barracks for King Neptune’s castle guards and a contingent of Marines, ready to repel any invasion.
Other than Ralph Russell Tinkam, the lighthouse engineer and architect who was in charge of the construction of the gigantic light station, the men who worked on the construction of the lighthouse could never have imagined that some day the lighthouse would be a popular tourist attraction that would draw tens of thousands of people from all over the world. And why would they? In those days there was no road to the remote location and everything that was used to build the light station was brought by boat and then up the steep sides of the cliff to their location with a view that was unequaled to none.
In fact, many of the workers, who lived in tents on the grounds during construction, left when their assigned tasks were completed and never saw the light shine from the massive third order lens that thrust its beam of light for 22 miles out to the sailors on the water.
Although the constructions of many other Great Lakes lighthouses were engineering feats of their own, the construction of the Split Rock Light Station was an amazing engineering feat of a totally different nature. All the materials had to be brought up the side of the sheer cliff over 100 feet-straight up to the top. This was no easy task.
Even the construction of the buildings at the site was difficult, and often dangerous, work that probably would have taken years longer with today’s modern rules and regulations. During one of the dynamite blasts, for the building of foundations, a ten inch in diameter, eight foot long log, was shot flying like an arrow into one of the tents where it crashed, scaring the daylights out of the resting crew who ran out; fleeing for their lives. Fortunately none of them was hurt. During that same blast, engineer Tinkam was nearly struck by a rock the size of a cannon ball. He recalled that he ducked out of the way. Apparently these were not uncommon occurrences and, amazingly, no one ever got seriously injured.
From the time the lighthouse was built, it was a family station. However, only five men served as head keeper and only three of them served for any real length of time. The station also had a number of assistant keepers, most of whom, for various reasons, did not stay any great lengths of time.
Veteran lighthouse keeper Orrin P. Young was the first keeper at Spilt Rock Lighthouse. He served there for 18 years until his retirement in 1928. His replacement as head keeper was his 1st assistant keeper, Franklin J. Covell, who had previously served at Split Rock as the 2nd assistant keeper from 1913 to 1916, and again from 1922 to 1923, when he was transferred to the nearby Two Harbors Lighthouse where he served briefly until being transferred back to Split Rock as the 1st Assistant in 1924.
Family life at the lighthouse was idyllic and the children of the keepers who grew up there, in later years all recounted good memories. From its beginning, the lighthouse had a certain fascination with people and even though there was no road to the lighthouse, some people still found their way there. When the road to the lighthouse was completed in the 1920s, life at the lighthouse changed forever, as thousands of people arrived, all attracted to the magnificent tower and the spectacular view over the largest lake in the world. The children soon learned how to amuse the tourists and had fun as unofficial tour guides. But the families were also glad when the tourist season ended and they were able to again enjoy their privacy and the beauty of the setting.
Eventually, rules were established for visitation times, an additional keeper was brought on for the tourist months to handle the many visitors, and a safety fence was installed at the base of the tower. Finally the government realized what the keepers and their families had always known; Split Rock Lighthouse was the most visited light on the Great Lakes. When the Coast Guard took over the Lighthouse Service in 1939, they stated that Split Rock Lighthouse was the most visited lighthouse in the United States, a statement that might well have been disputed by other lighthouses such as Portland Head Light in Maine. Regardless, people loved the lighthouse and many returned several times every year.
When the lighthouse was decommissioned in 1969, it did not stop the tourists from coming. Realizing the importance of the site as a tourist attraction as well as an historic landmark, the Minnesota Historical Society stepped in to manage the station.
Today, on-site manager, Lee Radzak, oversees the day to day operations of the lighthouse, which has an interpretative center, numerous exhibits and a gift shop. Visitors can tour the restored keeper’s house, the fog signal building and climb the tower and at times enjoy the company of volunteers in period dress who will explain to them what life was like at the lighthouse in the 1920s.
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