Whitefish Point

Whitefish Point is the point of the Upper Peninsula where Lake Superior makes a bend. Ships go either East and West or North and South (for the most part) with their cargo. At the Point, the lake is like a funnel where there should be a traffic light. This area is called the graveyard of ships for a reason – there have been over 320 shipwrecks here with at least that many lives lost. I visited the Shipwreck Museum and learned about the most notorious ones. Most wrecks happen from boat collisions in fog rather than going down in storms! And here is where the Edmund Fitzgerald went down in a very bad storm on November 10, 1975. Gordon Lightfoot’s song about the event was playing in the museum, and in the background of the 15 minute documentary that tells how the bell was raised and another one with the crew listed was lowered as a memorial.

The keepers’ residence (a duplex!) is on display and this home looked more luxurious than most. But then, the keeper was also a life saver and the wife cooked for workers and survivors more so than at any other lighthouse. The lighthouse is attached to the living quarters in a unique way – from the second floor! The boathouse is now a museum telling about the life saver service that preceded lighthouses in some cases, but accompanied them in others. Imagine hearing that a boat capsized in bad weather and you had to get in a big rowboat to try to save people in those waters! It makes me appreciate their hard work!

Sep 10, 2009

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