In 1873, the second lighthouse on Lake Superior went up: Porphyry Lighthouse on Porphyry island, erected at the eastern point of Black Bay Peninsula in Lake Superior. Originally, it was just a square-shaped wooden structure that had a white light on top shining out into the water for about 16 miles, plus lodging in the building below. A fog alarm building was added in 1907. The current complex, with an updated light, has been the same since the 1960s.
Though not the first or the last lighthouse keepers, the McKay family manned the station for three generations, including when a ship hauling flour broke up on the rocks in a 1929 fog. The McKays helped the crew get to safety, then were able to snag several years’ worth of flour before the load was disposed of. Porphyry Lighthouse was manned until 1989, when it went fully automatic.
Today, you can live the life of a lighthouse keeper on a tour and overnight stay. The tour goes through a mini museum and art gallery, then leads you through the keeper’s tasks, including tending to the fog alarm building and charting daily observations. In the evening, you bundle up into the beds in the keeper’s house, continuing the tradition of watching for wayward ships in the night.
