The Mississippi River is big enough to have real working lighthouses, of various sizes, along its entire length. Checking back in my Lighthouse of the Week history, I apparently have not yet feature an actual working Mississippi River lighthouse yet.
Although this lighthouse is also on the Mississippi River, I'll keep my streak intact, because this isn't really a working lighthouse, either. In fact, it's located in Minneapolis, considerably further north than lighthouses would even be needed.
The name of this lighthouse is the Boom Island Lighthouse, and it is located on the site of a former lumber camp. Boom Island isn't an island, it's a park, but it appears that the Boom Island lighthouse is actually on an island named Hall Island. I did a little checking and it is on Hall Island, and there's a story about that, because Hall Island is a restored island park. Check the map to see where it is located.
The lighthouse may now serve a navigational purpose -- marking where the river cruise boat location is. It may also note where the kayakers should be careful about going, because I imagine it's hard to paddle against the actual flow of the river. Note that just downstream there is another real island, Nicollet Island.
Having said all that, here's a bit more about the interesting Boom Island lighthouse.
"Date unknown. Active (privately maintained and unofficial); focal plane about 55 ft (17 m); continuous white light. Approx. 45 ft (14 m) hexagonal tower with an open lantern, mounted on a hexagonal stone base. Tower painted white with a narrow blue horizontal band."
I did some additional searching, and it is possible that in the past, this was actually a working lighthouse for the logging camp. I can't be sure about that, though.
However, I did find a good article about the entire area --- Boom Island: One Thing After Another
So, it may or may not have been a working lighthouse a considerable time ago, and it's on an island that once was an island, then wasn't, and now is again, but it's named for a place that used to be an island but isn't one anymore, which is not the piece of land on which it actually is located.
And I couldn't find a year when it was built. (The Lighthouse Directory couldn't either.)
So, now, how about some pictures?
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