Sanctuary Lecture Series – The U.S. Life-Saving Service on Superior’s Shipwreck Coast

Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center 500 West Fletcher Street, Alpena, MI, United States

The desolate Lake Superior shoreline between Whitefish Point in Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula and the area of Grand Marais, MI, is littered with a multitude of shipwrecks. Some occurred as early as the 1816 wreck of the schooner Invincible, while newer, larger wrecks are deep within the shipping lanes. The 729' SS Edmund Fitzgerald is [...]

Sanctuary Lecture Series – Celebrating 150 years of Great Lakes’ Iconic Bulk Freighters

Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center 500 West Fletcher Street, Alpena, MI, United States

Great Lakes Maritime Historian Patrick Labadie describes the introduction and subsequent development of the iconic Great Lakes vessels, and their effect on the Midwest. The commerce of the American Midwest has always been closely linked with the efficiency of Great Lakes transportation. Eighteenth-century fur trade, 19th century agriculture, lumbering and mining were all dependent upon [...]

Sanctuary Cinema Series – Chicago’s Christmas Tree Ship

Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center 500 West Fletcher Street, Alpena, MI, United States

Come to the sanctuary’s latest in the Sanctuary Cinema Series! November 22, 1912: The schooner Rouse Simmons departs upper Michigan ferrying 5,000 Christmas trees to Chicago.  The ship disappears, and for 60 years there’s no trace of it. In 1971 a scuba diver discovers the legendary, lost  “Christmas Tree Ship.” (2013, 50 minutes, no rating) [...]

Sanctuary Lecture Series – NOAA Corps: A Service for Science

Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center 500 West Fletcher Street, Alpena, MI, United States

Presented by LTJG Hunter Brendel Lieutenant (junior grade) Hunter Brendel will speak about the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps, the nation’s smallest uniformed service comprised of 321 officers. NOAA Corps operates NOAA’s fleet of 16 ships and nine aircraft that conduct scientific operations throughout the United States and internationally. Officers also take on [...]

Inner Space to Outer Space: Great Lakes’ Contribution to Space Exploration & Research

Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center 500 West Fletcher Street, Alpena, MI, United States

Presented by State of Michigan Maritime Archaeologist Wayne Lusardi, he will highlight an assortment of objects, both human-made and natural, that have fallen from space into the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes have served as a training ground throughout the history of aviation. Nineteenth-century balloon ascensions, early military and civilian aircraft development, [...]

Tour of the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center/Trail

Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center 500 West Fletcher Street, Alpena, MI, United States

Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary has one of the most accessible collections of historic shipwrecks in the entire world, well-preserved in the cold, fresh water of the Great Lakes. Join sanctuary staff LIVE on the shores of Lake Huron as they explore the many ways paddlers, snorkelers, divers, and even glass bottom boaters can experience [...]

Battle of the Paddles

Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center 500 West Fletcher Street, Alpena, MI, United States

Due to COVID-19, 2021 Thunder Bay Maritime Festival and Cardboard Boat Regatta Canceled Due to the lead time needed for fundraising and planning, the Thunder Bay Maritime Festival and Cardboard Boat Regatta will not be held on July 4, 2021. “We hope everyone still gets out and safely enjoys our sanctuary this summer –and count [...]

The Archaeological Site Formation of Norman and Grecian

Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center 500 West Fletcher Street, Alpena, MI, United States

Come join Maritime Archaeologist Caleb O'Brien discuss two steel freighters in Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary: Norman and Grecian through the use of 3D models. Caleb O'Brien is a Maritime Archaeologist at Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary who has spent the last two years researching two steel-hulled shipwrecks within the sanctuary. Norman and Grecian were [...]

The Sinking of the Carl D. Bradley

Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center 500 West Fletcher Street, Alpena, MI, United States

American freighter SS Carl D. Bradley. Photo courtesy of Jeff Thomas.   Join local history teacher and Great Lakes sailor Jeff Thomas as he tells the story of the tragic loss of the Carl D. Bradley. This presentation will cover the launching and life of the vessel for the Michigan Limestone Transportation Company, her sinking in [...]

Continuing Archaeological Research on the Alpena-Amberley Ridge

Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center 500 West Fletcher Street, Alpena, MI, United States

Presented by Dr. John O’Shea The discovery of ancient caribou hunting structures preserved beneath Lake Huron has transformed our understanding of the early human occupation of the Great Lakes. Since the initial discovery of the Alpena-Amberley Ridge, research has focused on broadening our understanding of these early hunters and the environment in which they lived. Join Dr. John O’Shea, the [...]

Go to Top