Discover the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum in Paradise

PARADISE — Thousands of ships have sunk to a watery grave within the Great Lakes, and the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point is devoted to telling their tales.

If you are planning a go to this summer time, here is what it’s worthwhile to know:

Hours and admission

The museum, positioned at 18335 N. Whitefish Point Road in Paradise, is open seasonally between May 1 and Oct. 31. The property, which additionally homes a functioning lighthouse, attracts greater than 75,000 individuals a yr.

The museum operates from 9 a.m. to five p.m. day by day. Tickets are $15 an individual, with a reduced worth of $11 for youngsters age 17 and underneath. Kids age 5 and youthful are free.

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The property

Before it was a museum, Whitefish Point was house to the oldest working lighthouse on Lake Superior.

There are 13 whole buildings on the property, and solely six are open to guests. Across the obtainable buildings, completely different features of transport historical past are explored and proven by movies, photographs, wax figures, written histories and different reveals.

From the viewing platform to the north of the museum, guests can look out throughout Lake Superior and watch freighters and different ships passing by.

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The reveals

For greater than 40 years, the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society has been accumulating details about all issues nautical on the Great Lakes.

The museum homes dozens of tales about particular shipwrecks the place guests can see firsthand accounts, fashions of misplaced ships and even items from among the sunken ships.

Stories from among the most well-known wrecks will be discovered lining the partitions, from the Invincible, the primary identified business shipwreck in Lake Superior, to the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, which sank in November 1975 with its crew. The bell recovered from the Edmund Fitzgerald is on show on the museum.

While the Motor Lifeboat House reveals among the boats used to assist rescue individuals, it additionally screens “The Mystery of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” a brief documentary that chronicles the journey of diving to the wreck and recovering the bell. The bell was recovered with particular permission from the U.S. authorities.

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Other areas of the museum discover every little thing from early diving gear to Native American historical past on the water. In the Lighthouse Keepers Quarters, there are recreations of what life would have regarded like for the unique operators and their households.

In the Surfboat House, individuals can see the units and boats that lighthouse keepers used to assist ships in misery. For instance, the Lyle Rescue Gun would launch out a line to tie round a ship to anchor it to shore.

For individuals considering seeing what the museum appears like or viewing the climate earlier than a go to, a 24/7 reside stream is obtainable at shipwreckmuseum.com/about/live-weather-cam.

— Contact Brendan Wiesner: BWiesner@Sooeveningnews.com