[6][7][8] The exposed crib of the Stannard Rock Light is rated as one of the top ten engineering feats in the United States.

[12] The opening of the Soo Locks and the rapid increase in commerce between Duluth, Minnesota, and the lower Great Lakes demanded construction of a lighthouse.

[11] The Stannard Rock Light is 24 miles (39 km) from the nearest land making it the most distant from shore of any lighthouse in the United States.

[16] The exposed crib of the Stannard Rock Light is rated by the National Park Service as one of top ten engineering feats in the United States.

Landing at the Stannard Rock Light was difficult, but often the more serious problem at the start of the season was the need to take sledgehammers and pickaxes to clear away layers of thick ice (1 to 2 feet (0.30 to 0.61 m) deep) on the entry door, lantern, and foghorns.

[20] The Stannard Rock Light keepers operated the lantern and the living quarters with flammable illuminants for 60 years; the lighthouse was not electrified until after World War II.

It was just a few years after this that an explosion of gasoline and propane tanks used to fuel the station plant destroyed the buildings on the pier and severely damaged the interior of the tower.

The explosion killed one keeper and left three others stranded on the concrete pier at the base of the tower for three days before a passing ship discovered them and notified the Coast Guard.

After a protracted search, the Fresnel lens was found 37 years later at the Coast Guard Academy's storage warehouse in New London, Connecticut.

[1][10] After more than a century of warning mariners away from the treacherous reef, the lighthouse was given a new mission in 2008 when scientists placed equipment atop the tower to measure whether increased evaporation was the cause of receding Great Lakes water levels.

[22] A team of amateur radio (ham) operators “activated” Stannard Rock Lighthouse as “W8L” during the U.S. National Lighthouse-Lightship Weekend, August 7–8, 2021.