Beacon Lighting at Split Rock Lighthouse to Commemorate the Edmund Fitzgerald

This popular annual event at Split Rock Lighthouse commemorates the Nov. 10, 1975 sinking of the freighter Edmund Fitzgerald when it and its crew of 29 people sank to the bottom of Lake Superior. Every year, Split Rock Lighthouse honors the lives lost in this tragic maritime disaster with a ceremony that begins with reading the names of those who perished, ringing a ship’s bell and concludes with illuminating the lighthouse beacon.

A film about the Fitzgerald will be shown in the Visitor Center theater continuously throughout the afternoon. The lighthouse and the fog signal building will be open from noon to 6 p.m. The lighthouse will close temporarily at 4:30 p.m. while the names of the 29 lost crew members are read to the tolling of a ship’s bell. Following the ceremony, the beacon will be lit and the tower once again opened for visitors to tour.

This is the only opportunity each year when visitors can climb to the top of the tower and see the beacon lit and revolving. $7 per person; free for Minnesota Historical Society members.