The Two Harbors Breakwater Light is a

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

located at the end of the

breakwater Breakwater may refer to: * Breakwater (structure), a structure for protecting a beach or harbour Places * Breakwater, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia * Breakwater Island Breakwater Island () is a small island in the Palme ...

enclosing the eastern end of

Agate Bay Agate () is a common rock formation, consisting of chalcedony and quartz as its primary components, with a wide variety of colors. Agates are primarily formed within volcanic and metamorphic rocks. The ornamental use of agate was common in Ancie ...

and defining the harbor at Two Harbors, Minnesota.

History

A 1887 project to improve the harbor facilities resulted in the construction of a pair of breakwaters to better enclose the bay, one jutting out from either shore. The eastern of the two was marked by a lantern mounted on an iron post, which was first lit in 1895 and then moved to the end of the breakwater upon its completion in 1902. At the same time the lantern was replaced with a

Pintsch gas Carl Friedrich Julius Pintsch (6 January 1815 – 20 January 1884) was a German tinsmith, manufacturer and inventor who is primarily known for the invention of Pintsch gas. The gas, distilled from naphtha or other petroleum products, was wi ...

lamp supplied from a pair of tanks on the breakwater. Four years later, the lamp was replaced with the current tower. It is an iron skeletal tower with the top enclosed to for a watch room, and a typical octagonal lantern on top. The original fog signal was a clockwork-powered bell which was wound by an electric motor; both the motor and the lamp were powered from a powerhouse on shore. An electric siren replaced the bell and the lamp was changed from oil to electricity in 1915; the siren was replaced in turn by the present horn in 1941. The light was discontinued for three years starting in 1947, when the breakwater was being extended; it resumed operation with the same structure and signals in 1950, and remains active today.

References

{{authority control Lighthouses in Minnesota Lighthouses completed in 1906 1906 establishments in Minnesota Buildings and structures in Lake County, Minnesota