Lighthouses of Missouri and Iowa

The U.S. states of Missouri and Iowa are in the center of the country on the west bank of the Mississippi River, with Iowa immediately to the north of Missouri. This page includes a small number of lighthouses found in those two inland states.

To be listed here, a lighthouse must actually serve as an aid to navigation. This means it must be located on a navigable lake or river and must be lit as a navigational aid at least during the local boating season.

The Coast Guard maintains aids to navigation on the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers of the country, but as far as I know none of them meet the Directory's definition of a lighthouse. All the lighthouses listed here are privately maintained.

Missouri Lighthouses
* Duck Club Marina
Date unknown. Active; characteristics unknown. Approx. 11 m (36 ft) round bottle-shaped masonry tower with lantern, painted white with red trim. Steve Schulte has an excellent photo, and Google has a satellite view. The lighthouse marks the entrance to the marina, located on the Mississippi River at the end of Highway V (Blase Station Road) about 13 mi (20 km) north of St. Charles. This location is actually on the southeast side of the river, which twists to the north as it approaches its junction with the Illinois River. Site open, tower closed.
* [Mark Twain (2)]
1963 (original built in 1935). A decorative white light is displayed. Approx. 30 ft (9 m) octagonal wood tower with lantern and gallery, painted white. Tyson Blanquart's photo is at right, Tammy Green has a 2009 closeup, and Google has a satellite view. This is probably the best-known lighthouse of the interior U.S., although it has little if any navigational value. It was built originally to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the author Samuel Clemens, better known by his pseudonym Mark Twain. The first lighthouse was lit by remote control by President Franklin Roosevelt; the replacement was lit similarly by President John Kennedy, and when the lighthouse was renovated in 1994 there was another remote relighting by President Bill Clinton. Located atop Cardiff Hill, a steep bluff above the river in Hannibal, Twain's home town. Site open, tower closed. Owner/site manager: City of Hannibal. ARLHS USA-915.

Mark Twain Light, Hannibal, Missouri, April 2008
Creative Commons photo by Tyson Blanquart
Iowa Lighthouses
* Storm Lake (Siebens Memorial)
1992. Active; focal plane about 36 ft (11 m); flashing white light. 30 ft (9 m) brick tower with lantern; rotating aerobeacon. Built on the campus of Buena Vista University in memory of BVU trustee and benefactor Harold Walter Siebens. The university has a photo (first thumbnail in the second row). Located near the Siebens Field House on the north shore of the lake, in the town of Storm Lake in northwestern Iowa. Site open, tower closed. Owner/site manager: Buena Vista University.
* Lake Panorama
1976. Active; focal plane about 7 m (23 ft); red light, pattern unknown. 6 m (20 ft) octagonal wood tower with lantern. Lighthouse painted white with one narrow red horizontal band. A photo is available. Lake Panorama is a large planned community at Panora, Iowa, about 45 miles (72 km) west of Des Moines. The lighthouse was built by a resident, Max Antrim. Located on the west side of the lake. Owner/site manager: unknown.

Notable faux lighthouses:

  • Argosy Casino in Sioux City, Iowa, has a conspicuous faux lighthouse.
  • Singing Towers, three of them, on the Mississippi River at Clinton, Iowa, have never been aids to navigation. A good photo showing all three towers is available.
  • Valleyview, near Dubuque, Iowa, is not located on navigable water.

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Posted July 15, 2003. Checked and revised July 1, 2009. Lighthouses: 3. Site copyright 2009 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.