Marquette Maritime Museum

Last updated
City Water Works.jpg

The Marquette Maritime Museum is a museum and lighthouse located in Marquette in the U.S. state of Michigan. Since 2002, the museum has been associated with the Marquette Harbor Light, a lighthouse that serves traffic in Marquette Harbor and adjacent waters of Lake Superior. The facility offers tours of the lighthouse, which remains an active aid to navigation overseen by the United States Coast Guard, and the museum specializes in the maritime history of Marquette, Lake Superior, and the iron ore trade. Lake Superior is one of the five Great Lakes. [1]

Contents

Description

The Marquette City Water Works, a Richardsonian Romanesque building of Lake Superior sandstone, was built in 1891 during the Marquette Iron Range iron ore boom. The Marquette Maritime Museum Association was founded in 1980 as the old Water Works was nearing the end of its useful life. In 1984, the Association commenced Museum operations in the Water Works. In 2002, the Museum signed lease papers with the Coast Guard to offer guided, supervised public tours of the Marquette Harbor Light. In July 2016, on the 150th anniversary of the lighthouse, the Coast Guard gave the ownership deed of Lighthouse Point to the City of Marquette. Lighthouse Park is now open to the public but the Museum still offers guided tours mid-May to mid-October. The museum and lighthouse tour schedule and admission fee information can be found at mqtmaritimemuseum.com. [1]

The Museum includes a display of Fresnel lenses. This 19th-century lens technology used carefully fitted glass prisms to mathematically focus a beam of light onto the sometimes-stormy waters of the Great Lakes. Most Fresnel lenses have been rendered obsolete by high-intensity sealed beam lamps, so the lighthouses that formerly used them have transferred or lent them to the Museum. [1]

Outdoor features of the Marquette Maritime Museum include a harborside memorial to the World War II United States Navy submarines USS Darter and USS Dace, two attack submarines credited with a key role in the 1944 Battle of Leyte Gulf. These two submarines are honored here because David McClintock (Darter) was a Marquette resident. Commander (later Captain) McClintock was awarded the Navy Cross for the Leyte Gulf service performed by him, his crew, and his ship. [1]

The museum is located at 300 North Lakeshore Boulevard, Marquette, Michigan 49855. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ludington Light</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

The Ludington Light is a 57-foot (17 m) tall steel-plated lighthouse in Ludington, Michigan, which lies along the eastern shores of Lake Michigan, at the end of the breakwater on the Pere Marquette Harbor. Given its location on the northern breakwater where the Pere Marquette River meets Lake Michigan, it is sometimes known as the Ludington North Breakwater Light. Underlying the building itself is a prow-like structure, which is designed to break waves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Two Harbors Light</span> Lighthouse

The Two Harbors Light is the oldest operating lighthouse in the US state of Minnesota. Overlooking Lake Superior's Agate Bay, the lighthouse is located in Two Harbors, Minnesota. The construction of the lighthouse began in 1891 and was completed the following year, with the light being lit for the first time on April 14, 1892. The first Two Harbors keeper was Charles Lederle and there were normally three keepers assigned to make sure the light was lit every day. The Lighthouse was built to provide safe passage into the Agate Bay Harbor during the early 20th century, as Two Harbors was a major shipping point for the iron ore of the Mesabi Range.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toledo Harbor Light</span> Lighthouse in Ohio, US

The Toledo Harbor Lighthouse is a lighthouse in Lake Erie near Toledo, Ohio, in the United States. The light replaced the 1837 lighthouse on Turtle Island at the mouth of the Maumee River. It is an active aid to navigation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Granite Island Lighthouse</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

Because it was positioned near the busy shipping lanes of the mid-19th century, a lighthouse was built on Granite Island in 1868 by the U.S. Lighthouse Board and commissioned in 1869.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michigan Island Light</span> Lighthouse

The Michigan Island Lighthouse is a lighthouse operated by the National Park Service and located on Michigan Island on western Lake Superior in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whitefish Point Light</span> Lighthouse on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, United States

The Whitefish Point Light is a lighthouse located in Chippewa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located on the southeastern shores of Lake Superior, it sits at the edge of Whitefish Point leading to Whitefish Bay. Constructed in 1849, it is the oldest operating lighthouse in the Upper Peninsula. All vessels entering or exiting Lake Superior pass near Whitefish Point. The area is infamously known as the "Graveyard of the Great Lakes" due to the high number of shipwrecks in the area, most famously the SS Edmund Fitzgerald.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DeTour Reef Light</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

The DeTour Reef Light is a non-profit-operated lighthouse marking the southern entrance of the DeTour Passage between the eastern end of Michigan's Upper Peninsula and Drummond Island. The light is an automated active aid to navigation. It marks the northern end of Lake Huron. The passage is used by almost all of the Great Lakes commercial freighter traffic moving to and from Lake Superior, with approximately 5,000 vessel movements annually. It is said to be "the gateway to Lake Superior." In addition, many recreational boaters use the passage. The Light is located in Lake Huron, three miles (5 km) south of the nearest town, DeTour Village, Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grosse Point Light</span> Lighthouse

The historic Grosse Point Light is located in Evanston, Illinois. Following several shipping disasters near Evanston, residents successfully lobbied the federal government for a lighthouse. Construction was completed in 1873. The lighthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 8, 1976. On 20 January 1999, the lighthouse was designated a National Historic Landmark. It is maintained under the jurisdiction of the Evanston Lighthouse Park District, an independent taxing authority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicago Harbor Light</span> Lighthouse

The Chicago Harbor Lighthouse is an automated active lighthouse, and stands at the south end of the northern breakwater protecting the Chicago Harbor, to the east of Navy Pier and the mouth of the Chicago River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milwaukee Pierhead Light</span> Lighthouse

The Milwaukee Pierhead Light is an active lighthouse located in the Milwaukee harbor, just south of downtown. This aid to navigation is a 'sister' of the Kenosha North Pier Light.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Menominee Pier Light</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

The Menominee North Pier lighthouse is located in the harbor of Menominee, Michigan. The station was first lit in 1877. The current structure and its still operational light was lit in 1927, and automated in 1972. It is also sometimes called the "Menominee (Marinette) North Pierhead Light".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashtabula Harbor Light</span> Lighthouse in Ohio, US

Ashtabula Harbor Light is a lighthouse in Ashtabula, Ohio. It was listed in the National Register on August 8, 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harbor Beach Light</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

The Harbor Beach Lighthouse is a "sparkplug lighthouse" located at the end of the north breakwall entrance to the harbor of refuge on Lake Huron. The breakwall and light were created by the United States Army Corps of Engineers to protect the harbor of Harbor Beach, Michigan, which is the largest man-made freshwater harbor in the world. Harbor Beach is located on the eastern edge of the Thumb of Huron County, in the state of Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port Sanilac Light</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

Port Sanilac Light is a United States Coast Guard lighthouse located on Point Sanilac, near Port Sanilac on the eastern side of Michigan's Thumb. It is an automated and active aid to navigation on Lake Huron.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marquette Harbor Light</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

The Marquette Harbor Light is located on Lake Superior in Marquette, Michigan, a part of the Upper Peninsula. It is an active aid to navigation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rock of Ages Light</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

The Rock of Ages Light is a U.S. Coast Guard lighthouse on a small rock outcropping approximately 2.25 miles (3.62 km) west of Washington Island and 3.5 miles (5.6 km) west of Isle Royale, in Eagle Harbor Township, Keweenaw County, Michigan. It is an active aid to navigation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sand Point Light</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

The Sand Point Lighthouse is located in Escanaba, Michigan, United States, on Lake Michigan's northern shore. Since 1989, it has been an unofficial aid to navigation. Though it is an operational aid to navigation. The restored lighthouse is now open to the public during the summer months. It is also known as the Escanaba/Sand Point Light or the Escanaba Light.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stannard Rock Light</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

The Stannard Rock Light is a lighthouse located on a reef that was the most serious hazard to navigation on Lake Superior. The exposed crib of the Stannard Rock Light is rated as one of the top ten engineering feats in the United States. It is 24 miles (39 km) from the nearest land, making it the most distant lighthouse in the United States. It was one of the "stag stations", manned only by men, and had the nickname "The Loneliest Place in the World".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ontonagon Light</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

The Ontonagon Light is a lighthouse located off M-64 near Ontonagon, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 and designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1973.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Marais Harbor of Refuge Inner and Outer Lights</span> Lighthouses in Michigan, United States

The Grand Marais Harbor of Refuge Inner and Outer Lights are a pair of lighthouses located on the west pier at the entry to Grand Marais Harbor of Refuge, in Grand Marais, Michigan. They were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Marquette Maritime Museum and Lighthouse". mqtmaritimemuseum.com. Marquette Maritime Museum. 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2017.

46°32′44″N87°22′46″W / 46.54558°N 87.37936°W / 46.54558; -87.37936