The first assistants were seasoned veterans and the keepers themselves were, by any standards, resourceful men devoted to their calling and capable of exceptional and even heroic service. All this in spite meager wages that forced these same men to labor as painters, paper hanging, and other odd winter time careers to support their families.

Excerpt from Split Rock Lighthouse by MHS Press

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On January 1 94 year old Beulah Covell-Myers passed away in Virginia Beach, Virginia.  Beulah was the daughter of Franklin J. Covell.  Covell served as a keeper with the U.S. Lighthouse Service at Split Rock Lighthouse from 1913-16, and again from 1922-44.  He was head lighthouse keeper at Split Rock from 1928-1944.  Beulah, and her younger sister, Ileana, married two brothers from a commercial fishing family that lived near the lighthouse, Mike and Otto Myers.   

Beulah, and her sister Ileana, were great friends of Split Rock Lighthouse and had a real love and interest in the famous historic site.  Both women provided a great deal of information on their lives at the light station in the 1920’s, 30’s and 40’s.  They were very generous with sharing their photographs and memories of their life at the lighthouse which contributed greatly to the interpretive story of the historic site.

The historic site staff was looking forward to Beulah returning to Split Rock for this summer’s centennial celebration, as I know she was.  I know that she will be here in spirit.  We are hopeful that other members of the Covell-Myers clan, including Ileana, will be able to make it.

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Winter is a quieter time at the lighthouse, and along the North Shore in general.  It seems like this first week of each new year winter wants to get serious about letting us know how far the sun is away from our hemisphere and the temperatures drop like a rock thrown into the lake.  This week the highs might get into single digits above and the lows at night are in the minus teen and twenties. 

For those hardy folks that make the winter trek to the North Shore over the holidays (and there are an amazing number of people around this week) they can be rewarded with some spectacular conditions and photographs.  This is the month when the full moon rises behind the lighthouse at sunset behind the lighthouse.  Twenty years ago there were only a few people that knew about this or were interested in taking photographs of the moonrise.  For this last moonrise on December 31 at least a dozen photographers who were willing to abide the single digit temperatures they were rewarded with a beautiful moonrise with just the right amount of cloud cover to make the photos more interesting.

This is also the time of year for lake effect snow.  With the prevailing north or northwest winds in the winter the North Shore gets far less lake effect snow than the south shore of Lake Superior.    From Split Rock you can watch the frigid winds pulling the moisture from the warmer lake in the form of sea-smoke (the old time local commercial fisherman called it “frost-smoke”).  The tendrils of steam rise and move across the lake and as it comes in contact with the higher elevations along the far shore it drops this moisture as very fluffy snow…often feet at at time!  The big lake will be ice free for another month before the water temperature drops enough for it to make ice on calm nights in early February.

The pastel colors of winter sunrises and sunsets, the bright sunlight and steam off the lake, and the quieter traffic does make this time of year a peaceful counterpoint to the hectic summers at the historic site.  But then again, there is planning for the Split Rock centennial to see to.

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At Christmas, when our kids were little, they were sure that Santa would find our house because it would be one of his first stops for him because it was right on his way and so close to the North Pole.  In their twenties now, our kids have come to realize that they did indeed grow up in a special place.  The early lightkeepers and their familes had to leave Split Rock in the winter.  Beginning in the 1930’s, with the coming of the North Shore highway, the keepers and their families were allowed to stay year round.  Those children have related to us how thrilled they were to be able to stay through the winters.

With a blizzard and lake effect snow in the forecast for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day this year it will be a good time to hunker down and enjoy the sights and sounds of Lake Superior.  Then, after the storm settles, it will be time to get out and clear the paths, check all the buildings on the light station, and refill the bird feeders.

I thought that this would be a good time to share some winter photos at Split Rock Lighthouse, a time when when the hectic pace of summer is replaced by a blanket of new snow.

Happy Holidays

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For the last few decades the four-ton ship anchor from the 430-foot iron ore carrier ‘Madeira’ shipwreck has been sitting in a corner of the parking lot of a souvenir shop near Split Rock Lighthouse.  The anchor had originally been raised from the 1905 shipwreck in the 1960’s.

Several years ago the souvenir shop burned down and when the land recently came up for sale the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society (GLSPS) worked with the land’s owner who donated the anchor, a bollard from the ship’s deck, and a section of the storm-twisted hull of the ship to the GLSPS.  GLSPS offered the anchor on long-term loan to the Minnesota Historical Society and we agreed that displaying the anchor in front of the visitor center at Split Rock made a lot of sense.  After all, the 1905 storm (known locally as The ‘Mataafa” Blow) that sank the ‘Madeira’ and several other ships was the prime reason for the construction of Split Rock Light Station in 1909.  This last weekend divers from GLSPS, volunteering their time and equipment, along with Split Rock Lighthouse Historic Site staff, moved the anchor to the service area of the historic site.

Next summer, in time for the centennial of the lighthouse and the 105th anniversary of the storm that sank the ‘Madeira’, the anchor will be placed on display along with interpretive information on the ship, the storm, and the anchor in front of the Split Rock Lighthouse Visitor Center.  For any who know the fabled story of the wreck of the ’Madeira’ and the heroic rescue of nine of the ten crewmen this makes a lot of sense.  The shipwreck took place against Gold Rock Point, the next point of land to the northeast of the lighthouse, and it remains a very popular dive site.

Lake Superior divers in general, and the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society in particular, have done a lot in the last several years to protect the shipwrecks in the big lake.  The GLSPS should be commended for their PIB program (Put It Back) which returns many artifacts to shipwrecks that over the years have found thier way into divers’ basements and garages.  This puts the artifacts back where they can have more meaning to divers and enhance the wrecks as the cultural resources that they are.

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