Split Rock Lighthouse Weblog

At Split Rock Lighthouse we are all about involving the public in our programs.  Because the lighthouse has been an extremely popular tourist destination since the 1920’s there is a long history of people visiting, and recording their visits, to Split Rock.

Next summer, for the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the lighthouse, one of our staff had the great idea to invite the public to share family photographs of their visits to Split Rock over time.  This sounded like a fantastic way for visitors to get directly involved with the history of the lighthouse and to share some of their own personal history.

So, we are asking all of you who have photographs of Split Rock Lighthouse from before 1980 to share them with us at the historic site.  They will go into an exhibit in the visitor center next summer plus we will post them on the Split Rock Lighthouse website, www.mnhs.org/splitrock.  We are looking for any photos of your family at the lighthouse or scenic shots of the grounds or the lighthouse from your visit before 1980.  Why 1980?  Much of the restoration that was done at the site to bring the light station back to its original condition was done in the 1980’s so we are looking for older photos to show changes in the site before that time.  Also, we all know how digital photography change peoples ability to take hundreds, not dozens of photos, and we will just not be able to accomodate all the digital photos.

So, dig out your family vacation albums from years back.  Pop out your Split Rock photos and stand by for more information on submitting either the photos or scanning and emailing them.  Let’s see how far back we can go with peoples memories of Split Rock.

I’d like to talk about two of my favorite topics… lighthouses and motorcycles.  This summer it has been obvious that more folks are traveling and vacationing on motorcycles.  The North Shore Scenic Drive always has been an ideal destination for a bike trip but this year I have noticed a pretty hefty increase in two-wheeled traffic.  That included the HOG (Harley Owners Group) rally in Duluth in June and a Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) rally in July.

The Hells Angels definately attracted the most attention from law enforcement and others.   The HAMC held their national pre-Sturgis rally the last week of July in Carlton, MN and it was estimated that around 500 club members spent three or four days playing tourist around Duluth and up the North Shore.  Very little activity out of the normal was noticed (though much was anticipated) during their visit and traffic along the North Shore highway continued as usual.

Motorcycles are a great way to visit lighthouses as most lighthouses are in very scenic locations and bikes are the best means of traveling to these mostly rural settings.  Many of the visitors to Split Rock are continuing on the circle route around Lake Superior or heading inland toward northern Minnesota and the iron range towns by way of the Superior National Forest Scenic Byway, arguably one of the best motorcycle roads in the state, even in a car.There will be a couple of more months of good riding weather ahead.  With fall colors just over a month away think about a trip over some great roads with great scenery, to see some great lighthouses.