Minnesota Lights - Duluth Outer South Breakwater

The Outer South Breakwater Lighthouse.
8/23/2021
dwm photo

 The Outer South Breakwater Lighthouse shares its history with the Inner Breakwater light.

 Built in 1901, the one-story building, according to LighthouseFriends.com, is 22-feet wide and 45-feet long, perched at the end of the concrete breakwater protecting the channel into Duluth's harbor.

 The squat brick lighthouse with its corrugated iron roof was designed to survive anything the big lake might throw at it.  120 years later, it stands strong.

The cast-iron lantern is 29-feet over water so the fourth-order lights could be seen by captains far from port.

Instead of building a catwalk to the light, tracks were laid on the breakwater to ferry keepers safely over the 1,150 feet of exposed concrete.

A sailboat heads home.
8/23/2021 dwm photo

It was fun to have three lights as close to each other as this trio of houses guarding Duluth's harbor entry.  Of course, it was a sunny day.  When the skies of November turn gloomy, captains want to see the red and green lights to thread the needle with their ship no matter how strong the wind blows.

The Outer South Breakwater Lighthouse requires more effort to see it up close than its partner on the north pier.  I crossed the aerial bridge then walked the 1,100 feet to get a closer look.

South Breakwater Lighthouse
roof and lantern. 8/23/21 (dwm)

It is hard to see the lantern standing next to the lighthouse, but you do sense that in addition to standing on solid rock, the house is virtually immovable.  The quiet strength is palpable.

The day after taking these pictures I stood a few miles away on one of Duluth's highest points peering through smoke at the harbor below.  It was murky and the color of slate, except for the lights shining through the haze.

The Aerial bridge frames the Inner and Outer South Breakwater lights.
The North Breakwater light is to the left of the bridge with its red light.  8/23/21 dwm photo