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The fourteenth annual Edmund Fitzgerald Memorial Beacon Lighting was held this past November at Minnesota's Split Rock Lighthouse. The event is held each year on November 10 to remember not only the crew of the Fitzgerald but the victims of all shipwrecks and maritime disasters that have occurred on the Great Lakes.
The Split Rock visitors center, lighthouse and fog signal building were opened to the nearly 600 people that attended. This is the only time each year when visitors are allowed to enter the lighthouse after dark and view the 3rd order Fresnel lens at nighttime.
Prior to lighting the beacon at dusk, a short ceremony was held at the foot of the lighthouse to remember shipwreck victims. The traditional way to remember victims lost at sea is the ringing of a ship's bell. Michael Roberts, the last Coast Guardsman to be stationed at Split Rock when it was decommissioned in 1969, returned to the station to ring the large bell. Matt Miller, staff researcher, presented a program about the hazards of navigation on Lake Superior, including the storm of 1905, November weather patterns and the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald. To accommodate the large attendance, the program was repeated in the 100 seat theater of the Split Rock Lighthouse visitors center three times in the afternoon hours.
The Split Rock Lighthouse is open in the winter months on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from noon to 4pm. For additional information call 218-226-6372 or e-mail Lee.Radzak@mnhs.org
This story appeared in the January 2000 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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