Whitefish Bay
Encyclopedia
Lake Superior
Lake Superior is the largest of the five traditionally-demarcated Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded to the north by the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Minnesota, and to the south by the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Michigan. It is the largest freshwater lake in the...
between Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
and Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. It begins in the north and west at Whitefish Point in Michigan, about 10 miles north of Paradise, Michigan
Paradise, Michigan
Paradise is an unincorporated community in Whitefish Township, Chippewa County in the U.S. state of Michigan.Paradise is on the northeastern portion of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, on the western side of Whitefish Bay, Lake Superior, about by road from Sault Ste. Marie and about north of the...
and ends at the St. Marys River
St. Marys River (Michigan-Ontario)
The St. Marys River , sometimes written as the St. Mary's River, drains Lake Superior, starting at the end of Whitefish Bay and flowing 74.5 miles southeast into Lake Huron, with a fall of ....
at Sault Ste. Marie
Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
Sault Ste. Marie is a city in and the county seat of Chippewa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is in the north-eastern end of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, on the Canadian border, separated from its twin city of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, by the St. Marys River...
on the southeast. The eastern side of the bay on the Ontario side is more rugged, largely wilderness Canadian Shield
Canadian Shield
The Canadian Shield, also called the Laurentian Plateau, or Bouclier Canadien , is a vast geological shield covered by a thin layer of soil that forms the nucleus of the North American or Laurentia craton. It is an area mostly composed of igneous rock which relates to its long volcanic history...
. The international boundary runs through the bay, which is heavily used by shipping traffic northbound and southbound from the Soo Locks
Soo Locks
The Soo Locks are a set of parallel locks which enable ships to travel between Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes. They are located on the St. Marys River between Lake Superior and Lake Huron, between the Upper Peninsula of the US state of Michigan and the Canadian province of Ontario...
. The Whitefish Point Light marks the entry of the bay, Ile Parisienne Light
Ile Parisienne
Ile Parisienne is a remote, undeveloped Canadian island located in the middle of Whitefish Bay. Its light station serves as a critical aid to navigation on a major shipping lane in Lake Superior. The light tower was listed on the Canadian Register of Historic Places in 1991...
is in the middle of the bay, and Point Iroquois Light lies near the mouth of the bay and the approach of the Soo Locks.
Whitefish Bay became the site of numerous shipwrecks after the Soo Locks opened in 1855. Many of the shipwrecks of Whitefish Bay are protected for future generations of sports divers by the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve
Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve
The Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve was established in 1987 to protect and conserve shipwrecks and historical resources on of Lake Superior bottomlands in Whitefish Bay and around Whitefish Point, Michigan. The formation of the Michigan Underwater Preserves helped stop controversy over...
, including the wrecks of the Comet, John B. Cowle
SS John B. Cowle (1902)
The SS John B. Cowle was one of the early Great Lakes bulk freighters known as "tin pans". She was the first of two ships named for prominent Cleveland, Ohio citizen and shipbuilder, John Beswick Cowle. On her maiden voyage in 1909, the Isaac M. Scott rammed the Cowle in heavy fog off Whitefish...
, Drake
SS M.M. Drake (1882)
The SS M.M. Drake was a wooden steam barge that towed consorts loaded with coal and iron ore on the Great Lakes. She came to the rescue of the crews of at least 4 foundering vessels in her 9 year career only to meet the same fate in her final rescue attempt. The Drake sank in 1882 off Vermilion...
, Samuel Mather
SS Samuel Mather (1887)
The SS Samuel Mather was the first of seven U.S. merchant ships to bear that name. The wooden Mather sank in 1891 after she was rammed by the steel freighter Brazil in heavy fog in Whitefish Bay from Point Iroquois, ending the Mather's 4 year career...
, Miztec
Miztec (schooner barge)
The Miztec was built as a 3-masted schooner in 1890. She was later converted to a barge and served as a consort for lumber hookers on the Great Lakes. She escaped destruction in a severe 1919 storm that sank her longtime companion, the SS Myron, only to sink on the traditional day of bad luck,...
, Myron
SS Myron
The SS Myron was a wooden steamship built in 1888. She spent her 31 year career as lumber hooker towing schooner barges on the Great Lakes. She sank in 1919 in a Lake Superior November gale with the loss of all her crewmen but her captain who was found drifting on wreckage near Ile Parisienne. ...
, Niagara, John M. Osborn
John M. Osborn (steamboat)
The John M Osborn’s short career as a wooden steam barge lasted just two years. The Osborn sank with the loss of five lives when she was rammed by the larger, steel hulled Alberta who was called a “steel monster" and "terror of the lakes". The Osborn’s wreck was discovered 100 years after her...
, Sagamore
SS Sagamore (1892)
The SS Sagamore is reported to be the best example of a whaleback barge among Great Lakes shipwrecks. Only 48 whalebacks ever existed on the Great Lakes. She sank in 1901 in the shipping lane near the Soo Locks when she was rammed by the steel steamer Northern Queen in one of Whitefish Bay's...
, , and the Vienna
Vienna (steamship)
The SS Vienna was built in 1873 during the era when steamers were built with sail rigging. She had a 19 year career marked with maritime incidents including sinking when she was just 3 years old. She sank for her final time in fair weather in Whitefish Bay in Lake Superior after she received a...
.
Whitefish Point is the home of a former Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
station and Whitefish Point Lighthouse is the oldest active light on Lake Superior. Part of the lighthouse station houses the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum
Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum
The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum is located at the Whitefish Point Light Station north of Paradise in Chippewa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The light station property was transferred to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society , the Michigan Audubon Society , and the United States...
, which includes artifacts
Artifact (archaeology)
An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...
from the above shipwrecks and information on the wreck of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald
SS Edmund Fitzgerald
The SS Edmund Fitzgerald was an American Great Lakes freighter that made headlines after sinking in a Lake Superior storm on November 10, 1975, with the loss of the entire crew of 29. When launched on June 8, 1958, she was the largest boat on North America's Great Lakes, and she remains...
. The Point is a popular place for rock collectors, ship watchers, and spectacular bird watching. Whitefish Point's land and water provides a natural corridor for birds that makes it a migratory route of world significance. It is a designated Important Bird Area
Important Bird Area
An Important Bird Area is an area recognized as being globally important habitat for the conservation of bird populations. Currently there are about 10,000 IBAs worldwide. The program was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife International...
where the Whitefish Point Bird Observatory
Whitefish Point Bird Observatory
The Whitefish Point Bird Observatory is located in Chippewa County, Michigan, USA, adjacent to the Whitefish Point Unit of the Seney National Wildlife Refuge. It operates as a non-profit, affiliate education and research facility of the Michigan Audubon Society. The Society and the WPBO together...
conducts important research.