Les Cheneaux Maritime Museum

A life saving boat and other historic maritime gear graces the front of the museum.

A relocated 1920s boathouse contains many models and historic photos of the local boating scene, plus a reference library. The adjoining addition dwarfs the original building and permits many boats, all built or used in Les Cheneaux, to be displayed. There are sailboats, rowboats, Old Town canoes, and more. A local man built a replica of a Mackinaw boat and donated it to the museum. The Mackinaw boat was the standard means of transportation before roads were finally improved in the 1950S. Its double-ended design allowed boats to be easily beached in storms. Viewing windows let visitors see a canoe or kayak being built to be raffled as a fund-raiser.

Visitors can ask to see several outstanding videos about Les Cheneaux's birds, geology, plants, and history. "From Ice to Islands" is a natural history that explains the unusual glacial action that resulted in the islands' northwest-southeast axis. "Les Cheneaux en Bateaux" deals with the islands' social history, with a special emphasis on locally built wooden boats for fishing and resort transportation.

In Cedarville, on M-134 two blocks east of the light and just east of the high school. . (906) 484-2821. lchistorical.org. Open from Mem. Day weekend thru the first week after Labor Day. Mon-Sat 10-4. Free admission. Donations welcome.
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CEDARVILLE
POINTS OF INTEREST

Carmeuse Limestone, Cedarville Plant . Big port for freighters loading limestone that underlies most of this region ... more

Gerstacker Preserve. 890-acre stunning bedrock shoreline preserve has rare plants. 2+ miles of trails wind through dunes, forests. See loons, pileated woodpeckers. Swim off sandy beach. ... more

Government Island. This island of birch and conifers, the only public island among Les Cheneaux, is a nice picnic or camping destination, with a swimming beach ... more

Great Lakes Boat Building School. In this region long known for fine wooden boats there is now an impressive school teaching the art ... more

Les Cheneaux Historical Museum. Exhibits and excellent videos illuminate the natural history development of the Cedarville/Hessel area, from Indian artifacts to lumber camps and tourist and resort eras. ... more

Safe Harbor Books. This personal bookshop has a good selection of regional, Great Lakes maritime and nature books, plus rubber stamping supplies. ... more

Les Cheneaux Maritime Museum. Boats & boat-related things in a 1920s boathouse: sailboats, canoes, rowboats, old photos ... more

Prentiss Bay Marsh. Scores of nesting boxes for tree swallows are scattered across this wetland. ... more

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