Take A Hike To Explore Minnesota’s First Lighthouse!

A piece of Minnesota's maritime history is just sitting, waiting to be found, but you've got to take a little bit of a hike to get there, and then you'll have to use some imagination to get the full picture. Why not hike out to see Minnesota's first lighthouse, or what's left of it, while the nice weather is still here?

What would you say if I were to ask you where Minnesota's first lighthouse was erected? I mean we live in a state with more shoreline than California, so a few places come to mind right away. I think about Lake Pepin on the Mississippi, you've got Lake Superior, and then you might want to warn people up along the St. Croix in Stillwater.

Well, Minnesota's first lighthouse was built up on Lake Superior, on Minnesota Point, which the locals know as Park Point. (Park Point is an island that juts out into Lake Superior and is connected to the 'mainland' of Duluth by the lift bridge.)

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The old lighthouse is located off the Park Point Nature Trail, not too far off the walking path. On Google Maps you can see a small trail coming off the main trail, and making a loop next to what's left of Minnesota's first lighthouse.

The ruins of that first lighthouse, which was built in 1858, and is listed on the listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The lighthouse once stood 40 feet tall, and 12 feet wide. It was made from red brick brought in from Cleveland, and mortored white. There was also a dwelling in addition to the lighthouse, made from the same red brick, but the dwelling was described as 'substandard' by 1868.

Like I said, when you see it, you'll have to use your imagination, but there is something about seeing one of the firsts of anything that can give you goosebumps.