Marquette Maritime Museum — Attraction in Marquette

So we did the museum and lighthouse tour. It's $12 to do both. We started by doing the lighthouse tour. Our tour guide was amazing. I'm not gonna lie when he walked up holding a banjo and said I don't normally stick to the script I was like oh boy here we go but boy was I wrong. After laying the banjo down we walked over to the old life saving house and was given a history of the town and how it came to be as well as how the local "coast guard" started. We then saw the officers quarters and went into the lighthouse. Spoiler alert you can't climb to the top where the light is something about lead paint or something like that, but non the less still great to see up close. There are exhibits inside with pictures that show things like the old fog horn house and radio towers. We then were allowed to walk out on the cat walk down to where the old fog horn house was for a great view of the lighthouse and shore. The tour guide we had was great he threw in just enough facts to keep it informational while mixing in personal stores that tied everything together. This tour guide gave you insight that Google or Wikipedia will never have. Many of the stories were very funny and made everyone laugh. The local touch was great and was even able to get recommendations on good dining in the area. The inside of the museum is nice, it is on the smaller side so it didn't take too long to see all the exhibits. The old lenses from the light houses were pretty cool and i thought the section in the shipwrecks was interesting. There is a short video playing on a loop talking about stannards lighthouse and the history of that. There is also a working periscope that you can look out into Bay with inside of the areas. The staff inside was very friendly and informative. Would go back again...

I didn't take the lighthouse tour that was offered, but for a small museum, they pack in a lot of history. This leans heavily to the Lake Superior history of shipping, with good reason, so if you're a fan of ore freighters or the Edmund Fitzgerald, you'll be in for a treat. There are a good number of artifacts and tools on display as well as numerous simple factoid signs for younger visitors.

It's just $7 for an adult to tour the museum and, I believe, another $5 if you'd like the lighthouse tour. There's a small gift shop with a decent selection of items; many items feature the museum or maritime history instead of the common "Visit the UP!" items you see everywhere). It makes for a more personalized souvenir if you're into those.

If you have an interest and the time, it's worth a little tour. Plus, if it's not a stormy day, you can walk out onto the long pier by walking between the museum and the Coast Guard station and following the Coast Guard fence (outside of the fence!) down...

This place was a quick stop on our way through, but it was a really great little museum. Entrance fees were really reasonable and there were a lot of great exhibits that were interesting for everyone in our group, from 4 to 74. There's a significant portion dedicated to the Edmund Fitzgerald, as well as other well-known shipwrecks, the Coast Guard life saving station and the commercial fishing industry. There was also a nice exhibit on US WWII submarines involved in turning back a Japanese fleet. Son and I both loved the working periscope as well.

They also offer tours of the Marquette Light Station, but we didn't have enough time to do that as well. After seeing the museum, though, I can say I recommend a lighthouse tour too, if...