Centennial celebration begins at Split Rock Lighthouse

NORTH SHORE - The Minnesota Historical Society has kicked off a year–long celebration honoring the 100th birthday of Split Rock Lighthouse.

A big crowd for a cold January day gathered Friday at the lighthouse, located northeast of Two Harbors.

Two-hundred feet above Lake Superior, Northland artist Jim Povich unveiled his centennial painting to a warm welcome.

"It represents the scenic parts of Minnesota but also represents the long history of the state too," said Jim Povich. "The big challenge for me was trying to find a unique perspective."

As a part of the year of celebration, the visitor's center will add a historical actor to their informational guides.

And what better person to have teaching visitor's about its history than the very first Split Rock Lighthouse keeper?

"With the amount of interest in this historic site and in the lighthouse itself, it's a natural to make a celebration out of this centennial," said Lee Radzak.

Radzak has been historic site manager for 27 years and saw the lighthouse's 75th anniversary.

Knowing how special that year was, he knows this year will be even bigger.

"There's a lot of buzz out there, down in the Twin Cities," said Radzak. "We're getting a lot of questions already. 'When are the events? What's gonna be happening?' and that's why we're doing the first Friday of every month."

Between May and November, every first Friday will feature a special program with music and lectures.

"There's a lot of story to be told and that story reflects the whole history of the North Shore, Northern Minnesota and Lake Superior," said Radzak.

In 1910 it only cost $75,000 to build the lighthouse and the surrounding buildings. The price tag was quite a bit higher for the renovations that took place there over the past two years, but as a result, the lighthouse is in excellent condition for the next 100 years.

"I think it's gonna have a long life and history here and the people of Minnesota are gonna take care of it the whole time," said Radzak.

Posters will be all over the state advertising the 100-year celebration.

Povich is honored he could contribute.

"I'm hoping they'll think that this is the most beautiful place in the state of Minnesota, because I think it is," said Povich.

Split Rock Lighthouse is asking for photos from tourists who visited the site between the 1940's and 1970's.

More information is available at www.mnhs.org/splitrock