Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum
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Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum
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Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum complex
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Location within the state of Michigan
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| Location | Whitefish Point Light |
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| Nearest city | Shelldrake, Michigan |
| Coordinates | 46°46′14″N 84°57′24″W / 46.77056°N 84.95667°WCoordinates: 46°46′14″N 84°57′24″W / 46.77056°N 84.95667°W |
| Area | 8.27 acres (3.35 ha) |
| Built | 1985 |
| Architectural style | Other, Iron pile lighthouse |
| NRHP Reference # | 73000947 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | February 28, 1973 |
| Designated MSHS | February 22, 1974 |
The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum is located at the Whitefish Point Light Station 11 miles (18 km) 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 (GLSHS), the Michigan Audubon Society (MAS), and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in 1996. The three entities share governance of the site. The museum is operated by the GLSHS. The museum exhibits artifacts from shipwrecks from the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve and the bell from the wreck of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald. Admission to the museum includes a tour of historic buildings with displays that interpret the Great Lakes maritime, United States Coast Guard, and US Life-Saving Service history.
An active navigational light has operated at Whitefish Point since 1848. The United States Coast Guard (USCG) stationed personnel at Whitefish Point until 1971 when the navigational equipment was automated. Whitefish Township was successful in its bid to place the Whitefish Point light, the oldest active light on Lake Superior, on National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
The MAS secured a license from the Coast Guard in 1976 for access to the Whitefish Point Light Station property for the study of migrating birds. In 1978, the Whitefish Point Bird Observatory (WPBO) was formed as an affiliate of the MAS and began monitoring migrating birds at Whitefish Point.
The GLSHS was formed by a group of divers in 1978 as a private, nonprofit organization. Its mission is "to promote and augment an understanding and appreciation of maritime history with particular emphasis on the Great Lakes museum facilities." In 1983, the GLSHS obtained a 25-year lease from the United States Coast Guard (USCG) to operate a museum at the Whitefish Point Light Station. The GLSHS began obtaining public funds in 1984 from federal and state agencies.
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