Lighthouses of Minnesota - Grand Marais

Grand Marais, MN 55604

Grand Marais Light is located on the outer end of a breakwater on the shore of Lake Superior in the city of Grand Marais in Cook County, Minnesota, United States. It is located in USCG District 9. The tower was first lit in 1922 and is still operational​

Prints & Downloads

Minnesota Lighthouse Prints

Map to Grand Marais Lighthouse

Lighthouse Keepers

Joseph E. Mayhew (1886 – 1902),
John Woods (1902 – 1921),
Emmanuel Luick (1921 – 1937),
​William A. Brooks (1937 – at least 1946)

Location

To find this site from H-58 turn down Canal Street until you get to the Light Keeper’s House Museum. There is gravel parking on either side of the museum. Two lighthouses are found at this site, the Inner and Outer Grand Marais Harbor of Refuge Lighthouses. They were constructed in 1895 and are both still operational.
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​​Google Maps HERE

History

In 1878, a memorial from the legislature of Minnesota seeking an appropriation for a lighthouse at Grand Marais was presented to the U.S. Senate and Congress appropriated $9,952 for the lighthouse on March 3, 1885.

In early November 1919 a disastrous southwest storm struck Grand Marais, tearing a hole in the south and north walls of the lighthouse.  A new one built in the spring.  The current white, square, pyramidal skeleton steel tower, with upper part enclosed, was in place the next year, as on November 1, 1920, this structure was moved sixty yards east along the eastern breakwater.

After the War Department issued a permit in October 1922, plans were made to return the lighthouse to the end of the eastern breakwater, where it stands today.
On October 4, 1923, the station’s fog signal was changed to an electric sireno that produced a ten-second blast every twenty seconds. In 1926, the fog signal was altered to produce a five-second blast every thirty-five seconds.

Photography

The lighthouse is easy to reach by car.  There is a short, but easy hike required to get up to the lighthouse.  The background on the shoreline provides a nice colorful backdrop.  In the morning, the sunrise can be spectacular, but would be shot with a longer lens.