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Picture of the day -
February 1, 2006
Split Rock Lighthouse
Photo courtesy of Randy Briggs, Brooklyn Park, MN.
Sailors have been traveling on the world's oceans and lakes for thousands of
years, and it has always been a very dangerous task. Rough seas and rocky
shorelines have doomed many vessels down through the years and shipwrecks were
once fairly common.
Lighthouses have long served as warning beacons all along the world's coasts.
Many a ships' captain has breathed a huge sigh of relief upon spotting the faint
glow from a lighthouse coming through the fog. Modern navigational systems have made sea
travel much safer than in years past, but many of those stately old lighthouses
are still in operation, some as maritime museums and others still serving as
beacons in the night. Lighthouses have played a major role in the history of
many of the world's coastal areas and I'm glad they're still around!
Most people think of lighthouses as landmarks dotting the shores of the earth's
oceans, and most of them are indeed on coastal islands and rock bluffs. But
there are also many lighthouses guarding the shores of the world's larger lakes.
Today's picture features one such "lake" lighthouse: Two Harbors,
Minnesota's Split Rock Lighthouse
(on Lake Superior).
Split Rock Lighthouse was constructed by the U.S. Lighthouse Service in response
to two terrible storms that wreaked havoc on 29 vessels in November of 1905.
The lighthouse was completed in 1910 after which it served Lake Superior
maritime traffic well for several decades. Spectacular advances in navigational
technology eventually made the lighthouse obsolete, and it was finally closed in
1969. Today, the Minnesota Historical Society operates beautiful Split
Rock Lighthouse as a living museum to Great Lakes maritime history.
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