It is not quite time for the gales of November—though, thanks to Gordon Lightfoot, everybody now knows they sometimes do come early. Lightfoot’s ode to the 1975 sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald might have brought Great Lakes shipping into popular culture, but it’s been a way of life around the Midwest for centuries. It is a history certainly filled with shipwrecks—literally thousands of them; though, thanks to advances in safety, the Fitzgerald was the last major one more than five decades ago.
But Midwest maritime history is more than just disaster. It’s also a tale of prosperity; of entire industries that were created around shipping and the port cities that were established to support them. Your group can learn every bit of this fascinating history at lakeside destinations all around the Midwest. And it’s not all retrospective. Great Lakes shipping is alive and well. Your group might just be lucky enough to spot one of the 1,000-foot lake freighters hard at work hauling thousands of tons of ore across the water.
Those “lakers” are a common sight in the Twin Ports of Duluth, Minnesota, and Superior, Wisconsin, with crowds frequently lining the walls of the Duluth Ship Canal as these workhorses of the lakes enter and exit the harbor. To see which ships will be coming and going, head inside the nearby Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center, which maintains the harbor schedule and offers free educational exhibits and on-site park rangers who can answer questions.
“We hope all visitors will come away with a better understanding of the Great Lakes maritime industry and how it impacts their daily lives,” says Sara L. Summers-Luedtke, director of the visitor center. “We also educate visitors on the work the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers does to support maritime navigation.”
Credit: Explore Minnesota
GUIDING LIGHTS
A little ways up the Lake Superior coast is Split Rock Lighthouse, one of many stations along the Great Lakes that used to guide ships safely through the waters. Split Rock is an iconic destination on Minnesota’s North Shore, offering both amazing history and incredible views. Tours are self-guided, but knowledgeable staff members from the Minnesota Historical Society are on hand to share astonishing tales, such as that of the 1905 storm that sank 29 ships, prompting the lighthouse’s construction. “If you want visitors to experience the true spirit of the North Shore,” says Site Manager Hayes Scriven, “Split Rock Lighthouse is one of the best places to do it.”
Lighthouses are, of course, ample around the Great Lakes. The United States Lighthouse Society reports there were 267 built on Great Lakes shores, most of which are still standing. Michigan alone has well over 100, including some in Marquette (also where the Marquette Maritime Museum is located), Grand Traverse, and the Fort Gratiot Lighthouse in Port Huron. Nearly 200 years old, the Port Huron lighthouse is the oldest lighthouse in Michigan.
“We have a few buildings on the property that share the history of not only our lighthouse and the lighthouse keepers that lived here but also history of the U.S. Coast Guard Service, Fort Gratiot Military history, as well as maritime history,” says Danielle Hurley, the manager of the Fort Gratiot Light Station. “We offer guided tours of the property where you can even climb the 94 steps to the top of the lighthouse and get a picturesque view of St. Clair River, Lake Huron, and Sarnia, Canada. If you are lucky, you might even see a freighter as it passes by.”
The lighthouse is one of four Port Huron Museums; one of the others is the Huron Lightship just a short distance down the St. Clair River from Fort Gratiot. Lightships were like lighthouses on the water, providing navigational lights in areas where constructing a lighthouse was impractical. The Huron is open seasonally and for group tours by appointment.
MARITIME MUSEUMS
On the banks of Toledo, Ohio’s Maumee River, close to where it spills into Lake Erie, sits a museum whose name tells you all you need to know. The National Museum of the Great Lakes celebrates the region’s entire story—its American, Canadian, Indigenous, maritime, and natural history are all on display here. Some maritime museums around the Great Lakes are dedicated to a specific niche, but the specialty of this one is covering every bit of it.
“What I think makes us special is that we tell the story of the Great Lakes, we don’t tell a part of it,” says Cris Shell, the museum’s experience manager. “We try to represent the entire Great Lakes to the best of our ability, and I think it means everybody can find something they didn’t know, or think is interesting, or can dig deeper into, and I think that’s a really great point of access.”
That means there is a veritable shipload of things for groups to discover. The highlights for many visitors, Shell says, are the museum’s two historic ships, the retired lake freighter Col. James M. Schoonmaker and the tugboat Ohio. Walking the deck, visiting the engine room, and seeing the view from the pilot house really help bring Great Lakes shipping to life.
The museum also presents regular rotating exhibits, such as an examination of Great Lakes ecology, open through October, and an exploration of the important role the culinary arts play in shipping, slated for the summer of 2027—“I had a sailor tell me one time: To be a chef on a ship, you either have to be a great cook or a good swimmer,” Shell says. In all, the museum is sure to be a keystone of a Great Lakes itinerary.
“I have a lot of people tell us they come in at 10, when our museum normally opens,” says Shell, “and by 3:30 they say, ‘Oh my gosh, it feels like we just scratched the surface.’”
Over on the Wisconsin shores of Lake Michigan in Manitowoc, the city’s 150-year legacy of shipbuilding tradition is one of the things visitors will learn about at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum. The Wisconsin lakefront became a center of industry during World War II, with the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company producing 28 submarines in the war effort. Though built in Connecticut, the USS Cobia is an example of the Gato-class subs the Manitowoc factory turned out, and it is one of the top highlights for visitors at the museum.
“Stepping below deck gives visitors a tangible sense of what life was like for the 80 crew members who lived and worked together at sea,” says Alexandria Bolle, the museum’s communications coordinator.
Subjects of other exhibits include Wisconsin shipwrecks, with dozens located just a few miles from the museum. The Wisconsin Built Boat Gallery showcases historic vessels and a 65-ton steam engine that powered a 1911 car ferry—“a showstopper,” says Bolle. And the Model Ship Gallery scales giants of the lake down to display-case size, such as a diorama depicting the Edmund Fitzgerald’s final resting place at the bottom of Lake Superior.
Lightfoot’s tribute to the Fitzgerald shouts out Wisconsin, as the ship departed on its final voyage from the ore docks of Superior, as well as Cleveland, as the ship’s destination (though it was actually headed for a steel mill in Detroit). It emphasizes the literal and figurative interconnectedness of the Great Lakes; just about every community has a vital share of history to tell.
By Todd Kortemeier
Main Image: Wisconsin Maritime Museum, Manitowoc, Wisconsin; Credit: Wisconsin Maritime Museum
