The Duluth South Breakwater Inner Light is a lighthouse on the south breakwater of the Duluth Ship Canal in Duluth, Minnesota , United States. It forms a range with the Duluth South Breakwater Outer Light to guide ships into the canal from Lake Superior . The current structure was built from 1900 to 1901.
7-399: The original configuration of the breakwaters was graced by a tower on the south side of the lake entrance in 1874, shortly after the canal was constructed. Requests for funds to construct a corresponding light on the inner end of the breakwater were made beginning in 1880, but an appropriation was not made until 1889. Construction proceeded quickly on an open wooden pyramidal tower surmounted by
14-460: A watch room and iron lantern, the latter housing a fourth-order Fresnel lens which rotated to provide a six-second flash; the light was first displayed on September 1 of that year. On the 17th, the India struck the end of the breakwater, but the damage to the light was minor and quickly repaired. The reconstruction of the canal as part of the 1896 harbor upgrade forced rearrangement and replacement of
21-889: Is a museum in Duluth, Minnesota , operated by the United States Army Corps of Engineers . The museum is in Duluth's Canal Park near the Aerial Lift Bridge and overlooks the entrance to the Duluth-Superior harbor. The museum and grounds are all property of the U.S. federal government. All visitors are welcome to visit this museum without paying. Donations are accepted by the Lake Superior Marine Museum Association, and support general maintenance and upkeep of
28-616: The building, new exhibit development and acquisition, and staffing. Exhibits demonstrate the history and operations of upper Great Lakes commercial shipping and the Aerial Lift Bridge. Many visitors particularly enjoy the three historically accurate replica cabins and a pilothouse from typical ships which plowed the waves of Lake Superior in years past. A three-story steam engine, 50 scale models and many interactive displays are available for visitors to explore. Thousand-foot-long freighters pass within 200 feet (61 m) of
35-720: The color scheme was reversed to the current black tower and white lantern. The original lens was reused, but was replaced with a modern acrylic flasher in 1995 when it was found in need of repair. The lens was given to the Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center , where it was restored and put on display. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Duluth South Breakwater Inner (Duluth Range Rear) Lighthouse in 1983 for its local significance in
42-451: The lights. The south breakwater was rebuilt with concrete piers from 1898 to 1900 and, upon completion, temporary lights were erected while new permanent lights were built. A new rear tower was constructed, standing at the edge of the pier near the lake shore. This structure, a square three-stage skeletal pyramid with a central cylindrical enclosed staircase, was originally painted white with a black lantern and watchroom; at some point, however,
49-603: The themes of commerce, engineering, and transportation. It was nominated for being one of the federal navigation aids essential to the development of the Great Lakes as the nation's most important transportation system in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The light remains in service, but in 2008 the tower was sold at auction to a pair of Duluth residents after an offer to donate it to educational or non-profit organizations found no takers. Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center The Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center
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