Michigan

The author of Michigan's Haunted Lighthouses shares tales of disaster and misfortune on the Great Lakes.

Losing one's life while tending to a Great Lakes lighthouse sadly wasn't such an unusual occurrence. Death by murder, suicide or other tragic causes--while rare--were not unheard of. Two keepers on Lake Superior's Grand Island disappeared one early summer day in 1908, their decomposed remains found weeks later. A newly hired and some say depressed keeper on Pilot Island in Wisconsin's Door County slit his own throat after a consultation with a local butcher about the location of the jugular vein. A smallpox outbreak in the late 1890s led to the tragic death of a lighthouse hired hand on South Bass Island in Lake Erie.

Join author Dianna Stampfler as she uncovers the facts (and debunks some fiction) behind some of the Great Lakes' darkest lighthouse tales.

For half a century, the Mackinac Bridge has connected Michigan's peninsulas. Before that, only ferryboats crossed the historic Straits of Mackinac. Huge, ice-crushing railroad ferries first appeared in the 1880s. But by the 1920s, growing automobile ownership, improved roads, and creative tourism promotion brought demands for better, cheaper, and more frequent service. Politicians listened, and in 1923, Michigan became the first state to operate a ferry as part of its highway department. The "Great White Fleet" began with just a tiny used boat and ended with a flotilla including the largest, most powerful ice-breaking ferry in the world. The operation became the biggest employer in the region while battling severe winter weather, partisan politics, and ever-growing lines of summer motorists. Over 34 years, Michigan State ferries united communities, built businesses, and transported millions of eager tourists and travelers across the Great Lakes' "Water Wonderland."

Settlers arrived at the mouth of the Grand River on November 2, 1834. Their community was christened Grand Haven, as it offered a secure harbor. As the logging industry grew, shipping expanded, and Grand Haven Harbor became especially busy during the financial boom and westward expansion that followed the Civil War. Northwest Ottawa County became an established resort destination, and passenger boats frequented the harbor as well. Heavy traffic through Grand Haven caused concern about shipwrecks. The first crew of lifesavers was formed in 1871 and soon joined the United States Lifesaving Service. In 1915, the United States Lifesaving Service merged with the United States Coast Guard. Grand Haven has long had a proud association with these dedicated crews, and in 1998, the relationship was marked when Congress designated it "Coast Guard City USA."

From the arrival of the first steamship to Lake Michigan in 1821 through the turbulent booms and busts of more than 130 years, passenger steamers of this bygone era provided an essential link for immigrants, excursionists, businesspeople and leisure travelers. On offer were dining, dancing, day trips and luxurious shipboard settings, but mishaps like storms, fires and shipwrecks were a persistent danger to passengers and crew alike. Through fascinating tales and splendid images, Lost Passenger Steamships of Lake Michigan presents the romantic and sometimes dangerous story of a vanished industry that once connected communities all long Lake Michigan's shores.

After the Grand Trunk car ferry SS Milwaukee was lost with a crew of 52 men in an October 1929 storm, it was replaced by the SS City of Milwaukee. Built in 1931, the ferry operated for half a century, hauling loaded railcars across Lake Michigan. Serving the majority of her career with the Grand Trunk Milwaukee Car Ferry Company, the ship spent her last few operational years sailing for the Ann Arbor Railroad. She survives today as the last unaltered example of a Great Lakes railroad car ferry designed with twin stacks, a classic profile, and triple-expansion engines. Now a museum ship and a National Historic Landmark, this remarkable vessel serves as a living memorial to the car ferries and the dedicated crews that sailed them.

Filled with rare images, charming nostalfic advertisements, and local accounts, discover the unlikely history of the determined, scrappy S.S. Badger and her impact on Lake Michigan.

One of the last operating coal-burning steamships in the world, the S.S. Badger provides travelers and their automobiles with what is now the only opportunity to ferry across Lake Michigan. Each summer, thousands of tourists enjoy sailing the 60-mile run between Ludington, Michigan and Manitowoc, Wisconsin. In 1892, the Ann Arbor Railroad Company introduced a fleet of cross-lake ferries intended to transport railroad cars. By 1897, the Pere Marquette Railroad launched its own fleet out of Ludington, beginning with the S.S. Pere Marquette. For decades, these ships carried freight, and eventually automobiles and people, across Lake Michigan. Today, only the Badger remains. Through a unique collection of archival and contemporary images, this book documents the S.S. Badger's historic career as a provider of cross-lake transport. Vintage advertisements, memorable photographs, rare diagrams, and informative text reveal the fascinating details behind the Lake Michigan Car Ferry's now-rare steam propulsion system, her design and layout, and her development from an icebreaking railroad ferry to a seasonal passenger ferry.

Not-a-pe-ka-gon was the Native American name given to the Ludington area and translates as ""heads on sticks.""

The name refers to a battle between the Ottawa and Mascouten Indians in the 17th century that raged along the river toward Lake Michigan. The heads of the defeated Mascoutens were placed on sticks as a warning to all. Later a bluff overlooking the lake and river was the site of the 1675 death of Fr. Jacques Marquette, a Jesuit missionary and explorer. When the first settlers of European descent arrived, they gave the name of Pere Marquette to their village, lake, and river in honor of the fallen missionary. Eventually renamed after lumber baron James Ludington, the community became a bustling maritime port and the home of the largest car ferry fleet in the world.

Author Geoffrey Reynolds explores the story of Holland, Michigan's unique legacy of maritime craftsmanship.

Holland's boat-building tradition took root in the 1840s, as Dutch immigrants crafted flatboats and watercraft for residents. Just a century later, the city's commercial boat-building industry flourished. The innovation of fiberglass-reinforced plastic changed the traditional structure of boats, revamped the industry and re-created the blueprint for U.S. pleasure boats following World War II.

The Roamer Boat Company's masterfully-welded sheet steel cabin cruisers led to the 1955 purchase by the Chris-Craft Corporation to create the Roamer Boat Corporation. Local craftsmen, like the Jesiek brothers, found the transition from furniture building to boat building seamless. But with the success of larger manufacturers, smaller boat shops declined.

The historic steamship City of Midland 41 sailed the waters of Lake Michigan for nearly half a century, transporting railroad cars, automobiles, and passengers. After her construction in 1941 by the revered Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company, the nation's newspapers and newsreel services covered her launching and maiden voyage with enthusiastic flair. In time, she became the most beloved of all the Great Lakes car ferries.

She was built as the flagship for the Pere Marquette Railway's Lake Michigan ferry fleet, and signified a bold departure from traditional Great Lakes vessel design. Her sleek outboard profile, spacious passenger accommodations, and modern interior furnishings were a hit with the traveling public. By the time she was retired from service in 1988, she had served both the Pere Marquette and Chesapeake & Ohio Railroads, transported thousands of travelers as a passenger ferry, and become known as the "Queen of the Great Lakes Car Ferries."

Explore the period between 1900 and 1950 when South Haven, Michigan transformed from a rough commercial port into a beautiful tourist attraction.

Although South Haven is now entirely a recreational harbor, this compilation of archival photographs provides a glimpse of an earlier time when shipments of coal, stone, pig iron, paper pulp, and clay came to port instead of pleasure boaters.

Showcasing the remarkable photography of Roy S. McCrimmon, Maritime South Haven: 1900-1950documents South Haven's nautical heritage with images of large foreign freighters, hardy fish tugs, bustling passenger steamers, carefree pleasure cruisers, and sprightly sailboats.