Whitefish Point Light Station

The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum is located at Michigan’s Whitefish Point Light-Station. It is approximately 1.5 hours drive from the Mackinac Bridge. The museum features exhibits of shipwreck artifacts, artwork, shipwreck models and lifelike mannequins. They offer a series of maritime history programs featured throughout the season. Admission includes the Shipwreck Museum Gallery, self-guided tour of the restored 1861 Lightkeeper’s Quarters, the 1923 Lifeboat Station Surfboat House and 1923 USCG Motor Lifeboat House, which houses the Motor Lifeboat CG 36381. The bell of the famous steamer Edmund Fitzgerald is also on display and serves as a memorial to her crew in the Shipwreck Museum Gallery.

The present light tower was constructed in 1861 during Abraham Lincoln’s administration.

Whitefish Point marks the eastern end of a notorious 80-mile stretch of shoreline from there west to Munising, Michigan, known ominously as Lake Superior’s Shipwreck Coast. Of the 550 known major shipwrecks lying on the bottom of the lake, at least 200 of them are in the vicinity of Whitefish Point. The primary causes of shipwrecks here are bad weather and collisions; the 1975 loss of the steamer Edmund Fitzgerald with her entire crew of 29 has become a world-wide legend. The wreck of the Fitzgerald lies just 15 miles northwest of Whitefish Point.

The SS Edmund Fitzgerald was a bulk carrier that sank in Lake Superior on November 10, 1975 during a severe storm, resulting in the loss of all 29 crew members. The ship, the largest on the Great Lakes at the time, was carrying taconite ore pellets and was named after a Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company chairman. The sinking of the Fitzgerald has become a legendary Great Lakes disaster, immortalized in song by Gordon Lightfoot. 

Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald

Music and lyrics ©1976 by Gordon Lightfoot

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down 
of the big lake they called "Gitche Gumee."
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
when the skies of November turn gloomy.
With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more
than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty,
that good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
when the "Gales of November" came early. 

The ship was the pride of the American side
coming back from some mill in Wisconsin.
As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most
with a crew and good captain well seasoned,
concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
when they left fully loaded for Cleveland.
And later that night when the ship's bell rang,
could it be the north wind they'd been feelin'?

The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound
and a wave broke over the railing.
And ev'ry man knew, as the captain did too
'twas the witch of November come stealin'.
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
when the Gales of November came slashin'.
When afternoon came it was freezin' rain
in the face of a hurricane west wind.

When suppertime came the old cook came on deck
Sayin' "Fellas, it's too rough t'feed ya."
At seven P.M. a main hatchway caved in; he said,
(**2010 lyric change: At 7 p.m., it grew dark, it was then he said,)
"Fellas, it's bin good t'know ya!"
The captain wired in he had water comin' in
and the good ship and crew was in peril.
And later that night when his lights went outta sight
came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Does any one know where the love of God goes
when the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
if they'd put fifteen more miles behind 'er.
They might have split up or they might have capsized;
they may have broke deep and took water.
And all that remains is the faces and the names
of the wives and the sons and the daughters.

Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
in the rooms of her ice-water mansion.
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams;
the islands and bays are for sportsmen.
And farther below Lake Ontario
takes in what Lake Erie can send her,
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
with the Gales of November remembered.

In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed,
(**Lyric change: "musty" changed to "rustic")
in the "Maritime Sailors' Cathedral."
The church bell chimed 'til it rang twenty-nine times
for each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
of the big lake they call "Gitche Gumee."
"Superior," they said, "never gives up her dead
when the gales of November come early!"

Song: Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald

The Light Station was operated exclusively by the U.S. Lighthouse Service from 1849 until 1923, when the U.S. Coast Guard established a Lifeboat Rescue Station here. The Lighthouse Service merged with the Coast Guard in 1939; the Coast Guard closed the Lifeboat Station in 1951, and took all personnel from the site in 1970.

The exhibits were extensive and beautifully displayed. The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society owns and operates the professional underwater research vessel R.V. David Boyd. This 47-foot survey vessel is equipped with twin 692 Detroit Diesels and a Phantom S4 Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicle (ROV) capable of diving to depths of 1,400 feet. The Boyd is also equipped with the latest Marine Sonics Dual Frequency SideScan Sonar, digital underwater imaging equipment, digital interface surface recording technology, and navigational gear. The David Boyd carries a crew of at least three experienced seamen.

The Boyd’s primary mission is to research and document historic shipwrecks of Lake Superior. The Boyd also assists federal, state, and local law enforcement or environmental agencies as required.  The vessel and crew have successfully participated in numerous search and recovery missions.The museum included many of the salvaged relics recovered by the GLSHS research team.

This site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, but there was no money for restoration. In 1980, Whitefish Township approached the fledging Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society for assistance in preserving this important property. The Society obtained a License from the Coast Guard in 1983 to commence museum operations; opened the first exhibits in 1985; and opened the present Shipwreck Museum Building in 1987.

This is the interior of the White Fish Station Boat House where USCG Type TR Motor Lifeboat CG 36381 is on display along with a 15 minute video on the salvage of the Fitzgerald's bell.

Whitefish Point is located at the extreme southeastern end of Lake Superior. It is a critical turning point for all vessel traffic entering and leaving this largest of all the Great Lakes. The Whitefish Point Light Station was established by Congress in 1849; since then, a life-saving beacon has illuminated these dangerous waters for mariners continuously. Today, the Whitefish Point Light is the oldest operating lighthouse on Lake Superior. With more than 200 shipwrecks lying in the immediate vicinity, the area is known as Lake Superior’s Shipwreck Coast.

"Superior," they said, "never gives up her dead when the gales of November come early!"