Keweenaw County Historical Society
Caretakers of the past, stewards of the future
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The Commercial Fishing Museum
(Photo: In addition to photos of commercial fishing in the Keweenaw the museum has many related objects used locally including scales, net, ice cutting tools, etc.)
(Photo: The Commercial Fishing Museum also has many photos and a continuously running DVD with movies of actual fishing in Lake Superior.)
Hours & Admission- The Commercial Fishing Museum is part of the Eagle Harbor Lighthouse Complex and is open from mid-June to early October. The 2021 opening date is expected to be June 20th. Hours for June, September and October are 12-5 PM. July and August hours are 10 AM-5 PM, Monday - Saturday and 12-5 PM on Sunday. Admission $5.00. Children free. Location- The Commercial Fishing Museum is located in the Eagle Harbor Lighthouse Complex, located on Lighthouse Drive. GPS: N 47 27.579 W 88 09.562, Decimal Degrees: 47.459650, -88.159370 Related Links- |
KCHS museum sites and the cottage rentals will be opening for the Summer of 2021, except the Bammert Blacksmith Shop which is closed for repairs. Sites expect to open buildings during the week of June 20th. See the museum sites’ webpages for opening dates and hours.
Public events have NOT been scheduled, except for the Woodward Concert in Copper Harbor on September 22nd and Cider Making at Central on September 25th; both events will be held outside. See the Events/Adventures in History webpage for more information. The Keweenaw County Historical Society’s Board of Directors will follow the COVID-19 Epidemic Orders issued by the State of Michigan’s Department of Health and Human Services. These public health orders are updated as needed, so KCHS may need to change access to buildings and events. This spring, group events held inside community buildings were not allowed. Therefore, KCHS cancelled the Adventures in History programs for the summer. Please check back for updates. |
One of the first ships to arrive in Copper Harbor in the 1840’s arrived with two purposes. It was to drop off some of the early explorers looking for copper. But it also was to sail to neighboring Isle Royale to see if explorers who had been dropped there earlier had found a good site for commercial fishing. Thus began the related histories of copper mining and commercial fishing in the Keweenaw. 
The Keweenaw County Historical Society Commercial Fishing Museum is located on the grounds of the Eagle Harbor Lighthouse complex in Eagle Harbor, Michigan next to the Rental cottage and near the Eagle Harbor Lighthouse, the Maritime Museum, the Keweenaw History Museum and our Lake Superior observation deck. In it one can see many displays of commercial fishing activities in the Keweenaw and also displays of the many families that fished from one generation to the next. The many photographs in the museum put a human face on the rough and risky business of commercial fishing on Lake Superior.
