The red brick Eagle Harbor Light Station sits on the rocky entrance to the harbor and is a working lighthouse as it guides mariners across the northern edge of the Keweenaw Peninsula. The original lighthouse, built in 1851, was replaced in 1871. The octagonal brick light tower is ten feet in diameter, with walls 12 inches thick and it supports a 10-sided cast iron lantern. The Lighthouse was manned by a head keeper and two assistant keepers.
The shipwreck of the John Jacob Astor in 1844 and rapidly expanding Lake Superior shipping traffic influenced lead to the construction of the Copper Harbor Lighthouse in 1847. For $4,800, Charles Rude built the original 65-foot-tall split stone, whitewashed tower on Hays Point between 1848-1849 about 100 feet in front of the present lighthouse in the vicinity of the steel tower.
May 30th - The East pier head of the lower entrance to the Portage Ship Canal was built in 1920
