A little more than half way along the Park Point, you pass the ruins of the first lighthouse in the Duluth Superior area. The map below is from my drawing Park Point, you can see the lighthouse location near the bend of the peninsula.

The red brick tower is a husk of what was the Minnesota Point Lighthouse, affectionately called “the Old Standby”. When the canal at Sault Ste Marie opened in 1855, Congress appropriated funds for its construction in anticipation of the logging and mining boom to come. The lighthouse served from 1858 to 1885. A replacement light was built on the northwest side of the Superior Entry in 1878, but the Old Standby functioned through 1885 as the kinks of the more modern light were worked out.

Samuel Stuart Palmer was the second lighthouse keeper of the Old Standby, from 1861 to 1871. He turned 66 the year he moved in with his second wife Roxanna .

His obituary read: Mr. Palmer was a native of Jefferson county New York. He came to the head of the lakes Superior in 1856 and for many years was keeper of the Minnesota point lighthouse. He leaves a widow, a large family of grown-up sons, of whom Jothan, Vose, Loren and Roswell reside in Duluth, and many grandchildren to mourn his loss. His funeral on the 3rd inst. at Nemadji cemetery Superior, was attended by many from Duluth and Superior, the Reverend Dr. Rice officiating. Thus one after another of our old settlers pass away. (From Superior Times 06 April 1878.)