Third Book in War of 1812 Action Series Now Available

Purchase the series, Great Lakes, Great Guns and receive 20% off. Shipwreck Society President James Spurr has just released the third book in his Great Lakes, Great Guns series about the War of 1812, Reflections in the Wake. The challenges of war continue long after the last shot is fired - wary of the very peace he seeks, Captain James Lee struggles with the circumstances of his father’s death. Marie LaPointe struggles with her past and fears trusting the future. Oliver Williams embraces his future, but was it bought with the life of his old friend? And Bemose wishes for nothing but the healing of the rift between her adopted son and the son of her flesh. None will find the answers until Friends Good Will gives up her final secret even from the burning timbers of her hull. Shipwreck Museum enthusiasts will enjoy how Spurr weaves in Whitefish Point, and one of her most notable early wrecks, Invincible, into the story. The story's exciting conclusion is set at Whitefish Point. “Spurr brings to life a fascinating period of our maritime history, rendering ships and men, heroes and incons in living color through a narrative well-woven in research and fact.” – Richard Scarano, National Maritime Historical Society Reflections in the Wake can be purchased from the Shipwreck Coast Museum Store; click on the image to visit our Online Shop - Books or call us at 800-635-1742. The first two books in the series, Sworn for Mackinac and One Sloop and Slow Match are also available.

Save Up to 20% During Online Post Holiday Sale

The Shipwreck Coast Museum Store announces an online sale where buyers can save up to 20% off in the Post Holiday Sale. The 20% discount is available on all items except books and prints – books and prints offer a 10% discount. These special Post Holiday Discounts are also available for visitors to the Weather Bureau in Sault Ste. Marie, where a satellite Museum Store retail shop is open Monday through Friday from 10 am to 4 pm at 400 West Portage Avenue. To visit the online shop, please click on this image of the Weather Bureau shop or the title above. Happy New Year from the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society!

Shipwreck Museum Closes for Season

The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, one of Michigan’s most popular destinations in the Upper Peninsula, has closed for the 2009 season. We are pleased to report that attendance was up 6% this year over 2008, with 60,542 visitors having traveled to Whitefish Point. During the winter months, patrons may visit the U.S. Weather Bureau in Sault Sainte Marie, home to the Shipwreck Society's administrative offices. This building, which features exhibits and a satellite museum store, is located in Soo Locks Park, Gate 14, at 400 W. Portage Avenue. Building hours are 8 am to 5 pm Monday through Friday. Sales are made year-round from the Shipwreck Coast Museum Store which may be found by clicking on Online Shop from the menu at the left, or by calling the office toll-free at 800-635-1742. The Crews Quarters Overnight Program closed for the season on November 14, 2009, and will resume on April 1, 2010. Crews Quarters reservations may be made by calling toll-free 800-635-1742. The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum will open next season on May 1, 2010.

Shipwreck Society Receives $40,000 Grant to Paint Light Tower

The famous Light Tower at Whitefish Point has been in continuous operation for 147 years. While the U.S. Coast Guard continues to maintain its life-saving beacon, the tower itself became property of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society in 1998. The Society is now responsible for maintaining this wonderful lighthouse, an icon for so many Michigan residents and visitors. The Society announces that Michigan Lighthouse Assistance Program has awarded $40,000 in funding for tower restoration on a matching basis. While this money will go a long way, it is not enough to complete the entire project – a very major job. The Shipwreck Society needs to raise additional money, and we are asking our members and the public for help over the course of the summer. The Society is organizing a fundraising campaign for this purpose. If you would like to help preserve the Whitefish Point Lighthouse, please complete the web site contact form by clicking the title above or the picture of the light; or, simply call the Shipwreck Society offices toll-free at 800-635-1742 – ask for Sean Ley, Development Officer. The Michigan Lighthouse Assistance Program is supported by sales of the “Save Our Lights” state license plates. Click on the link below to see a story about the 1861 tower and this important project, by Society Board Member Corey Adkins, of TV 9 & 10 News. Preserving the Whitefish Point Light Tower

New Exhibit Open in Weather Bureau Building

It is a pleasure to announce that another new exhibit has been opened by the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society! With generous funding from Michigan Humanities Council, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, an interpretive display is now open at the Society’s U.S. Weather Bureau Building, located in Soo Locks Park, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Admission to this exhibit is free. Building hours are 10 am to 5 pm, Monday through Friday; and 11 am to 5 pm on weekends. The exhibit features a series of descriptive, colorful panels and artifacts on topics ranging from the creation of the U.S. Weather Bureau in 1871 – which took place as a response to loss of life on Great Lakes Shipwrecks – to the development of lighthouses, the U.S. Life-Saving Service, and the U.S. Coast Guard. Panels discuss Lake Superior shipwrecks and the importance of Whitefish Point to navigation, maritime history, and bird migration. Artifacts include a bust of Professor Increase Lapham, founder of the Weather Bureau; Life-Saving Service items; and authentic shipwreck artifacts. A branch of the Shipwreck Coast Museum Store is located on the same floor. The Society is excited to open this historic building to the public. It is at Gate 14 of Soo Locks Park, 400 West Portage Avenue. Please call the Shipwreck Society administrative office with any questions at 800-635-1742.

Centennial: Steaming through the American Century

Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society Board Member Chris Winters spent five years creating a vivid record of life aboard the venerable Great Lakes steamboat S.S. St. Marys Challenger as she approached the centennial anniversary of her maiden voyage in 2006. A frequent visitor to Milwaukee’s harbor and reportedly the oldest operational freight ship in the world, the Challenger began her remarkable fresh water career on the Great Lakes on April 28, 1906—six years before the launch of R.M.S. Titanic. Granted unprecedented access to the vessel by her owners, Winters set off on a personal quest to record an old way of life in a new way by focusing revolutionary digital cameras on this revolutionary machine from another century. On April 28, 2006, the centennial anniversary of her maiden voyage from the Great Lakes Engineering Works, Challenger became the first vessel on the Great Lakes—and quite possibly in the history of seafaring—to eclipse 100 years while still in commercial service. Centennial: Steaming Through the American Century is a painstakingly researched, masterfully designed, 240-page hardcover that contains over 300 contemporary and archival images from the boat’s hardworking 100-year history. Copies are $50.00 each and may be ordered from our Online Shop – Books by clicking on the image or title above. Chris Winters is a Milwaukee-based photojournalist specializing in Great Lakes maritime subjects. Smitten with the lore of lake boats and the mythology surrounding the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, Winters is a veteran wreck diver, dynamic lecturer on Great Lakes shipwreck history, and a frequent contributor to Great Laker magazine. His documentary work has been exhibited in museums and galleries throughout the region.

Lt. Governor John Cherry Presents Check for $100,000

Michigan's Lieutenant Governor John Cherry visited Soo Locks Park on Monday, August 4, to present the City of Sault Ste. Marie and the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society with a ceremonial check for $100,000. Funds will be used to restore the exterior of the 1899 Weather Bureau Building that will shortly become the new administrative home of the Shipwreck Society. These funds are made available by the State of Michigan through the Clean Michigan Initiative Program of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. Work on the building is on schedule and the big move should occur in early September. The Shipwreck Society's new administrative address will be 400 W. Portage Avenue, Sault Ste. Marie, MI 49783. Society members' next issue of Shipwreck Journal will have all the details!

Overnight Accommodations... Stay at the Light Station

The Overnight Program is available annually between April 1 and November 14. Reservations for evenings between these dates can be made at any time of year. A unique travel and educational experience available year round, you can now visit Whitefish Point Light Station and experience premium overnight accommodations for an evening or two with guided museum tours. Click image for details.

Humanities Grant Received for Historic US Weather Bureau Building Exhibit

GLSHS sincerely thanks Michigan Humanities Council for a new $15,000 matching grant that will fund the exhibit to be installed in the west gallery space on the first floor: This project is made possible in part by a grant from Michigan Humanities Council, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. For more information about Michigan Humanities, please visit their web site at www.michiganhumanities.org The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society has signed a 25-year lease with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for use of the historic 1899 Weather Bureau Building, located in Locks Park, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. The Society plans to move its Sault Ste. Marie offices into this building. The first floor will be used as exhibit space and will encourage visitors to attend the Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point; second floor for administrative offices; and third floor for the museum’s Great Lakes Images and Papers collection storage; this collection will be open to the public by appointment. Interior restoration of the building began in the spring of 2007. The Shipwreck Society graciously thanks 84 Lumber Company of Ann Arbor and Jeld-Wen Windows and Doors for their generous support. We also wish to thank Lock City Home Center of Sault Ste. Marie; Waste Management; and Kinross Correctional Facility for their kind contributions towards historic rehabilitation. Initial support for the exterior restoration and interior rehabilitation design plan was provided by the Michigan Department of History, Arts, and Libraries; the plan was prepared by U.P. Engineers & Architects of Marquette, Michigan, with assistance from the museum’s exhibit designer, Mr. James Kelly.

Shipwreck Museum Wins 2007 State History Award

The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum has been honored with a State History Award by the Historical Society of Michigan in the category Communications: Newsletters and Websites. The award was presented by HSM Board Member Steve Williams and accepted by Shipwreck Society Development Officer Sean Ley at the 133rd Annual State History Conference in Macomb County, Michigan, at the end of September. Since its inception in 1978, the Shipwreck Society has published a quarterly newsletter called The Shipwreck Journal which is mailed regularly to all members by either US Mail or electronic mail. It has a subscription of 1,700. The award was given for outstanding quality in both this newsletter and in this website. The State History Awards are the highest recognition presented by Michigan’s official historical society, which is also the oldest cultural organization in the state, established in 1828.

Shipwreck Society Locates Wreck of historic Cyprus

Lost within Lake Superior’s mysteries for 100 years, the wreck of the historic Cyprus has been located by the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society. She is a 420-foot steel steamer, lying on her port side in 460 feet of water, untouched, and completely intact but for sections of her wooden deck cabins destroyed in the sinking. As this discovery reveals such an excellent glimpse of life aboard on October 11, 1907, it has quickly become a major news event. Please click on the headline or image to visit the story under Press Releases. Please click on the following link to see the video story of this exciting find on the 9 & 10 News Website, produced by GLSHS Board Member Corey Adkins: Visit 9 & 10 News

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Soo Locks Live Cam

Watch vessel passages, check out live cams at the locks. Click image and wait a few extra seconds while you are transferred to the secure site. Real time images may be delayed for security reasons.