Minn. lighthouse to mark Fitzgerald sinking

Published 5:28 am Sunday, November 11, 2012

TWO HARBORS — The Split Rock Lighthouse will light its beacon Saturday to mark the anniversary of the sinking of the freighter Edmund Fitzgerald.

Every year, the landmark lighthouse along Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior commemorates the Nov. 10, 1975, sinking of the Fitzgerald. All 29 men aboard died when the 729-foot ore freighter sank in stormy Lake Superior.

The ceremony begins with the reading of the names of those who died, the ringing of a ship’s bell and the lighting of the lighthouse beacon.

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A film about the Fitzgerald will be shown in the Visitor Center theater throughout the afternoon.

This is the only time each year when visitors can climb to the top of the tower and see the beacon lit and revolving.