Marquette Maritime Museum facts for kids
The Marquette Maritime Museum is a fun place to visit in Marquette, a city in Michigan. It's not just a museum; it's also connected to a real lighthouse! Since 2002, the museum has worked with the Marquette Harbor Light. This lighthouse helps guide boats safely in Marquette Harbor and nearby waters of Lake Superior.
The museum lets you take tours of the lighthouse. It's still used today by the United States Coast Guard to help ships navigate. The museum teaches all about the history of sailing and shipping in Marquette, on Lake Superior, and especially about the iron ore trade. Did you know Lake Superior is one of the five huge Great Lakes?
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Museum Building History
The museum is located in a special building called the Marquette City Water Works. This building was made in 1891. It was built during a time when the Marquette Iron Range was very busy with iron ore mining. The building is made from a beautiful stone called Lake Superior sandstone. It has a unique style called Richardsonian Romanesque.
The Marquette Maritime Museum Association started in 1980. This was when the old Water Works building was getting too old to be used for water anymore. In 1984, the museum officially opened its doors in the Water Works building.
Lighthouse Tours
In 2002, the museum made a deal with the Coast Guard. This allowed them to offer guided tours of the Marquette Harbor Light to the public. In July 2016, the lighthouse celebrated its 150th birthday! On that day, the Coast Guard gave ownership of Lighthouse Point to the City of Marquette.
Now, Lighthouse Park is open for everyone to enjoy. However, the museum still offers special guided tours of the lighthouse. These tours usually run from mid-May to mid-October. You can find out more about tour times and ticket prices on the museum's website.
Amazing Lighthouse Lenses
Inside the museum, you can see a display of Fresnel lenses. These are special lenses from the 1800s. They use carefully shaped glass pieces to focus a strong beam of light. This light helped guide ships through the sometimes stormy waters of the Great Lakes.
Most Fresnel lenses are not used in lighthouses anymore. Newer, brighter lights have replaced them. So, many lighthouses have given or loaned their old Fresnel lenses to the museum. This way, people can still see these amazing pieces of history.
Outdoor Memorials
Outside the Marquette Maritime Museum, there's a special memorial by the harbor. It honors two United States Navy submarines from World War II: the USS Darter and the USS Dace. These two attack submarines played a very important role in a big battle in 1944 called the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
These submarines are honored here because a man named David McClintock was from Marquette. He was the commander of the USS Darter. He was given a special award called the Navy Cross for his bravery and the great service of his crew and ship during the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
The museum is located at 300 North Lakeshore Boulevard, Marquette, Michigan 49855.
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