North Shore landmark gets national designation

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Two regional sites have been named National Historic Landmarks, the Minnesota Historical Society announced Monday.

Lake County’s Split Rock Lighthouse and Grand Mound near International Falls were among 14 new designations announced earlier this summer by the federal government.

Split Rock is the 12th lighthouse to be designated a National Historic Landmark and the second one on the shores of the Great Lakes.

It was completed in 1910 after a deadly storm in 1905 that damaged or destroyed nearly 30 ships. It earned historic-landmark status in part because it is a rare example of Great Lakes light stations designed as a single, cohesive and self-sufficient complex and because it appears virtually the same as it did when it was completed in 1910.

While it no longer operates as a lighthouse for navigation, the site has become one of the top tourism draws on the North Shore. The lamp is turned on occasionally – most notably each November when the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald is commemorated. The lighthouse was lit many nights last summer as the society celebrated its 100 years on the Shore with weekend celebrations.

Grand Mound Historic Site contains five earthworks that are part of a chain of more than 20 ancient mounds along the Rainy River between Lake of the Woods and International Falls. Grand Mound is the largest surviving prehistoric structure in the Upper Midwest.

“Grand Mound and Split Rock Lighthouse tell important stories about the great state of Minnesota and the development of the country from ancient to modern times,” Stephen Elliott, historical society director and CEO, said in a news release announcing the designations.

Split Rock and Grand Mound are the 24th and 25th properties in Minnesota to receive National Historic Landmark designation. Others include the Hull-Rust-Mahoning open pit mine in Hibbing, the Mountain Iron Mine, and the Soudan Iron Mine.

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