Kurt & Virginia's Travels: Manistique, Michigan

After spending most of June and July near the shores of Lake Superior, we headed south across the Upper Peninsula to Manistique Lakeshore Campground on the north shore of Lake Michigan. This city run campground is very spacious and almost new.

Site #38 is across the street from the beach.

View from our campsite of the Manistique Lighthouse at the mouth of the Manistique River. It is over 300 miles of water to Gary, Indiana, at the south end of Lake Michigan.

This unusual Historic Manistique Water Tower was built in 1922.

FAYETTE HISTORIC STATE PARK

We visited the historic town sight of Fayette (1867-1891). Fayette was one of the Upper Peninsula's most productive iron-smelting operations. When the charcoal iron market began to decline, the Jackson Iron Company closed its smelting operations. As a result, the town was eventually abandoned. The State Historic Park is now a completely restored village.

The Historic Townsite is within Fayette State Park.

From the diorama you can see why the harbor is called Snail Shell Harbor.

The restored village consists of 22 historic buildings and a visitor center.

The Machine Shop contains equipment to fashion any part needed for the blast furnace, railroad or village.

What remains of the Company General Store.

Jackson Iron Company Blast Furnaces produced a whopping 229,288 tons of pig iron during its 25 years of production.

All of the framed residences, commercial buildings and industrial structures were made from limestone quarried from the limestone cliffs.

The large house overlooking the furnaces was home to the company overseers.

The master bedroom of the big white house overlooked everyday operations of the smelting furnaces.

This deer was munching on fallen apples in the overseer's backyard.

Skilled workers housing

KITCH-ITI-KIPI - Michigan’s Largest Natural Freshwater Spring

Kitch-iti-kipi is the largest natural, freshwater spring in Michigan. It is 200 feet across and 40 feet deep.

At the dock, we boarded the free, crank-propelled raft which took us across the pond and back.

The 45-degree water flows at a rate of 10,000 gallons per minute erupting from fissures in the limestone rocks at the spring’s floor. The "Big Spring" is home to lake trout, brook trout, and brown trout.

RAINEY WILDLIFE AREA

The Rainey Wildlife Area offers a hiking trail that passes through maple, yellow birch and mixed conifer.

At the end of the trail is an elevated deck that overlooks a wetland.

BISHOP BARAGA SHRINE

Our first encounter of Bishop Baraga was on the north shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota. There we visited a memorial of thanksgiving where he and a Native American safely made it to shore during an intense storm.

The original Indian Lake Mission.

At the Chippewas Cemetery, Spirit houses of various sizes and shapes over each grave survived into the 20th Century. A totem stick identified each deceased.