Inscription
In 1849 the Whitefish Point Lighthouse was put into service. Soon after the township was organized in 1888, lumber towns such as Emerson and Shelldrake emerged at the mouth of the Tahquamenon and Shelldrake Rivers. Paradise was established in 1925. In the 1920s lumbering declined and fires burned the cutover land, creating a rich soil for blueberries.
Cranberry and blueberry cultivation, as well as commercial fishing on Whitefish Bay sustained the area’s economy.
Location
Sources
More markers in Chippewa
Emerson
Whitefish Township, MI
Once a thriving hub of pine lumbering, Emerson is now a fishing hamlet.
Shelldrake
Whitefish Township, MI
Legend has it that Lewis Cass, governor of the Territory of Michigan, and his party of nearly one hundred camped here on their search for...
Detour Reef Light Station
DeTour Village, MI
Located where the St. Mary’s River enters Lake Huron from Lake Superior, DeTour Passage separates the Upper Peninsula from Drummond Island.
Post Office
Paradise, MI
This post office opened just six years after Whitefish Point was settled in 1871 as a landing for the then-abundant lumber supplies and...
Johnston Homesite
Neebish Island, MI
In 1864 John McDougal Johnston, his wife, Justine, and their six children homesteaded this island.
