Duluth Harbor North Pier Light is a lighthouse on the North Pier in the Duluth Shipping Canal in Duluth, Minnesota, United States.
History
The 1896 project to improve the port facilities led to the reconstruction of the sides of the Duluth Ship Canal, securing it with brackets on two concrete supports that define its canal to the present day. While the south pier has been equipped with fire since 1874, the north pier has not been illuminated and, given the difficult approach (as evidenced by the infamous collapse of SS Mataafa in 1905), calls for help soon followed. A 1908 Lighthouse Council report recommending the construction of a light on the north pier noted that private aid was already stationed on the pier.
 |
| Duluth North Pier Light |
The appropriation was made in 1909, and the tower was erected and illuminated the following year. The design was based on the Peche Island rear high beam design. with a short round tower built of steel plates. A fifth-order Fresnel lens from France was installed and illuminated by a 210-candle electric lamp powered by the city's electricity grid. All the lights on the canal were maintained by the same caretakers; The senior caretaker lived in a frame house built in 1874 with the outside light of Duluth South Pier, while the assistants were given a brick duplex in 1913 after years of self-seeking housing. North Pier Light was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016 due to its local importance in the fields of engineering, maritime history, and transportation.
 |
| Duluth North Pier Light |
It was nominated for its association with federal efforts to create nationwide navigational aids, as well as it's characteristic of the early 20th century piers and breakwaters built around the Great Lakes. In May 2021, the US General Services Administration announced that the Coast Guard no longer needed the lighthouse and that it could be donated to another government agency or non-profit organization under the National Historic Lighthouse Conservation Act. If not transferred, it will be sold.