Lake Michigan Beach Area, Lighthouse & Piers
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Vessels in the Lower Channel

Lake Michigan Beach Area, Lighthouse and Piers, also, Vessels in the Lower Channel. . , Fish Hatchery, 1930s. Charlevoix’s US government fish hatchery was built in 1917. When it opened, it was the largest Federal hatchery in the United States. In recent years the building has served as the State of Michigan's Charlevoix Fisheries Research Station. , Coast Guard Station, 1930s. The Life-Saving Service later named the Coast Guard) station was commissioned in 1900, and built in 1901 on what now the open land adjacent to the fisheries research building. The station was a presence in Charlevois until the Coast Guard facilities moved across Round Lake to the entrance into Lake Charlevoix in 1962. The building was razed in 1965 and the land reverted the city. , Water Tower, ca. 1907 On the bluff above the Life-Saving station rose Charlevoix’s first water tower in 1906. It stood well over 100 feet tall and became a mariner’s landmark, seen over twenty miles out in Lake Michigan. The tower lasted for nine decades all the badly aged structure was pulled down in 1995. , First Lighthouse, ca. 1890. Charlevoix's first regulation lighthouse was built in 1885 on the north pier, made of wood and painted white. An elevated wood tresle connected it the shore. The lighthouse was moved the south pier in 1911 and painted red. By 1948 it had deteriorated almost to the point of collapse and was replaced by the steel structure still there today. , North Pier, ca. 1910. By the end of the 19th century, the north pier’s rotted wood trestle needed to be replaced by a metal one running the full length of the boulders that constituted the first two-thirds of the pier’s length. After subsequent replacement came and went, the current concrete and steel structure was put in place in the late 1980s. , Medusa “Challenger,” 1970s. Launched in 1906, the 552-foot Challenger was one of the largest lake freighters ever to sail the Great Lakes. She became the official cement carrier for the Medusa Cement Company plant on South Point 1967. The Challenger was decommissioned in 2013 afer 107 years of service. Only the vessel’s gig propeller remains in Charlevoix along the south channel walkway , Lower Channel, 1883. The cutting of the upper and lower channels between July and early October of 1869 from Pine Lake (Lake Charlevoix) to Round Lake, then Round Lake to Lake Michigan, opened Charlevoix County and northwest lower Michigan to regional, Midwest, national, and world commerce. Within two decades Charlevoix became one of the most important ports on the Great Lakes. Thousands of vessels of every description have appeared in the channel and Round Lake. , “Manitou,” late 1920s. Passenger vessels like the mighty Manitou, the “Greyhound of the Great Lakes,” visited Charlevoix for over seven decades. They mainly originated in Chicago. The Manitou could make the Chicago-Charlevoix run in twenty hours nonstop. She called here six times a week in the high season, three times on the way up to Mackinac, thee times on the way back. , “Hennepin,” 1960s. The largest lake freighters came into Charlevoix from the late 1950s into the 1990s, delivering coal to the rural electric plant near Boyne City at the far end of Lake Charlevoix. Their passage coming in fully loaded could op traffic on Bridge Street up to half an hour. , Tug and Schooner, 1890s. Powered tugs were the workhorses of the port, while schooners were the workhorses of the lakes. Unpowered schooners needed tugs to take them in and out of Round Lake. Between 1873 and 1913, almost forty steam-powered tugs used for fishing operated out of Charlevoix, and an unknown number of gasoline-powered general usage tugs. Several tugs were utilized for both purposes. , “Sylvia,” 1930s. Charlevoix was either the home port or destination of many of the finest palatial yachts ever to sail the Great Lakes. Here, the magnificent 192-foot Sylvia heads for Lake Michigan. This was her home port from 1930 to 1941. She was considered to be the most beautiful vessel ever to part the waters of Charlevoix. , “Sundew,” 1960s. Many types of Coast Guard vessels have served in Charlevoix since 1901. The 180-foot “buoy-tending” cutter Sundue “Old Reliable 404,” was stationed here from 1958 to 1980. Principally serving Lake Michigan and upper Lake Huron, her Great Lakes navigational aid-tending duties coult take her as far as Lake Ontario.