Marquette Favorite Tips by KimberlyAnn Top 5 Page for this destination

What to see, where to find out about it.

Favorite thing: Begin your trip at the Marquette Chamber of Commerce, where you will find maps, and many helpful pamphlets. These pamphlets range from information for tourists visiting Marquette and other areas in the Upper Peninsula, as well as pamphlets to help people who are relocating to Marquette. There is staff on hand to answer your questions, as well as postcards for sale. The Chamber of Commerce is Monday through Saturday, and is closed Sundays. Be sure to visit the lakeshore and take in the Maritime Museum.

Web : www.marquette.org
Phone: 888-578-6489
Address: 501 S. Front Road

Fondest memory: Sailing to Marquette (see my travelogue "Sailing to Marquette With Our Surprise Visitor") where we spent a few days on our way to the Picture Rocks National Lakeshore, we discovered that we had accidentally arrived during their Seafood Fest being held in the Harbor Park near the marina. During this Sea Food Fest weekend we had a great time listening to bands and sampling a wide variety of seafood at very reasonable prices. Also that summer the citizens of Marquette had been invited to create “family” poles to line the walks in the park. These poles would remain in place through out the summer and fall. Some of these were very creative. In 2007 the park was again decorated with local art, this time doors honoring women were lining the Harbor Park walkways. Photo 2 shows one of the 2007 doors in the park. (See my travelogue, “Summer Art In Mattson Lower Harbor Park“for photos of the family poles and additional doors.)

What is That Big Structure In the Lake?

Favorite thing: In 2006 we spent two weeks in Marquette, at a friend’s dock near the Lower Harbor Park, and I discovered that many tourist come down to take pictures of the structure in my photo. I was also asked a number of times what it was. What you see in the photo, is the historic, Lower Harbor Ore Dock. At one time railroad cars moved onto this dock to unload iron ore into waiting ships. This ore was unloaded into the ship’s holds through chutes (also know as pockets). The rail tracks that use to carry iron ore to this ore dock have been removed, leaving behind this enormous landmark.

Farther down the lake near Presque Isle is a newer ore dock that is still in use today, often lowering its chutes to load taconite, a concentrated form of iron bearing rock, into the holds of large ships. (See photos 2 and 3). This steel-framed ore dock runs out into Lake Superior for almost a quarter of a mile, stands 75 feet above the water, and has about 200 pockets (chutes). A rail track, running about a mile over an earth embankment, carries rail cars bringing taconite pellets from the Cleveland Cliffs Iron’s taconite processing facility, which is located near a large open pit mine just south of the communities of Ishpeming and Negaunee. The rail cars move along the top of the ore dock and empty the pellets down through the ore dock’s pockets. About 20 to 30 large ore carriers come through Marquette each month to take on a load of taconite. The size of these large ships is usually in the 600 foot range. It is interesting to watch the ship’s loading. The chutes are lowered into the ship’s cargo hold, and then the taconite noisily pours into the hold. The boat then moves 20 or 30 feet and a new pocket is lowered and the taconite is emptied into the hold again. Sometimes you see a ship that is around a thousand feet in size. If you do, this is probably a ship that has come to Marquette to unload coal.