This ad appeared in the Duluth Herald newspaper on Sept. 4, 1920. The Minnesota Point Lighthouse was built in 1858, and it seems its deterioration happened largely in its first 62 years.
Considering the shape it was in a century ago, it’s been holding up well. Below are 1920 and 2020 views.
7 thoughts on “Minnesota Point Lighthouse has been old for a long time”
For the purpose of comparison, here’s another recent pic taken from virtually same angle.
There are a lot of spirits roaming out there and beyond. Just saying.
Here’s another side-by-side comparison using Rij’s photo. When I did my comparison I was kind of under the impression that another section had broke off the top in the past century, reversing the unevenness, but now I’m not so sure. I think I’m in Rij’s camp in the belief that the lighthouse hasn’t crumbled much since 1920.
We might need a post in which we compare every photo that has ever been shot of the lighthouse in order to fully geek out.
You can still see a windowledge. This story indicates that around 1902 the top cast iron lantern section was removed; it seems odd that they didn’t just knock down the whole thing, and that it hasn’t really changed much since that time.
Here’s a different perspective, from 1904. Looks much the same.
I thought this was interesting.
Here is a drawing of the Old Lighthouse on Minnesota Point commissioned by the National Park Service in 1934.
And here is page 1 of the same document…