The South Pier Lighthouse, glowing in the evening sun, Summer, 2012.

The South Pier Breakwater Lighthouse of Duluth, MN is located at the end of the south pier on the Duluth Ship Canal. It is a rectangular brick building with a square brick tower protruding from one corner. Perched on the top of the square tower is a cylindrical lantern housing a fourth order fresnel lens that exhibits a steady green light. The light is colored green by several green panels erected around the lens. The bricks are painted white and the building sports a red metal roof.

The building originally housed fog signal equipment. The equipment was originally a compressed air whistle, but later upgraded to a diaphone fog horn. All of the fog signaling equipment has been removed and the building is now empty. The fog signal is now a small electric horn that is located on the gallery outside of the lantern.

Duluth South Pier Breakwater Light, Spring 2014. Note the chipboard box that is encasing the fresnel lens in the lantern.

Duluth South Pier Breakwater Light, Spring 2014. Note the chipboard box that is encasing the fresnel lens in the lantern. The lantern itself looks good with a recent coat of a red paint on the roof. The white paint on the brickwork of the chimney and the rest of the lighthouse looks rough and is need of attention.

Duluth South Pier Breakwater Light, Spring 2014. The acrylic fresnel light that is used as the backup if the lens and lamp inside the lantern fail. This light is mounted outside of the lantern, facing the water.

The M/V American Integrity enters the Duluth Ship Canal, Summer 2010. This photo gives you a good perspective of both the size of the lighthouse and the size of the massive vessels that come in and out of the Duluth Harbor.

Duluth South Pier Lighthouse – A Closeup of the Lantern Room, September, 2007. The Duluth South Pier Light displays a steady green light from a 4th order Fresnel lens. The lens is believed to be the original lens from the original lighthouse, which dates it to 1877. This lighthouse replaced the original in 1901. This building also housed a large fog signal when it was built. The current fog signal is an electric horn that is located on the gallery outside of the lantern. It is the small white cylinder to the left of the lantern in this photo.

South Pier Lighthouse, September 2007. This photo was taken from the harbor excursion boat Vista King. From this angle you can clearly see where the trumpets for the fog horns were located, along with a metal panel that sticks out next to them in an effort to direct the sound out onto the lake instead of along the shore, where the noise would annoy the residents of Duluth. The foghorn was removed in the 1990s.

The South Pier Lighthouse in early Spring, 2014. Note the chipboard box that has been constructed around the fresnel lens inside the lantern of the lighthouse.