Look beyond the pilings now and you’ll see two islands. To your left is South Manitou Island, and to your right is North Manitou Island. The water between the islands and the mainland is called Manitou Passage. Most of the ships traveling between Chicago and Buffalo sail through the Passage because it is the shortest route and most protected from the winds. The Passage could also be dangerous because of the shallow shoals and unpredictable weather on Lake Michigan. The islands were settled by Europeans before the mainland (about 1835) to provide safe harbor and cord wood to fuel the steamers. When the wood supply on the islands petered out, they started building “wooding stations” on the mainland, like this one here in Glen Haven. Just to the east of us was another dock at Glen Arbor, and beyond that was one at Port Oneida. This was a busy place back in those days!

With all of the ship traffic through the Manitou Passage, there were bound to be some accidents. Over the years, there have been about 80 shipwrecks in the Sleeping Bear area. In 1901 the Sleeping Bear Point Life-Saving Station was established about a mile west of here to patrol the beaches and rescue the crew and passengers of sinking or grounded ships. In 1931, they had to move it to its present site west of town to keep it from being buried by the drifting sand on the point. The men who worked at the station played an active part in the Glen Haven community. After we get done walking around Glen Haven, you can head over to the Life-Saving Station, now called the Maritime Museum, where you can see how the men lived and worked.

As we leave the beach, walk over to your right by the picnic table and take a look at the sign that shows a picture of a steamer docked at the Glen Haven dock.

Now let’s walk south down Main Street. You see that big red Glen Haven Canning Company building? Well, that wasn’t built until the early 1920s. Nowadays, it’s a museum, where you can learn about the boats that were used on the Great Lakes. We’ll talk more about the Cannery toward the end of our tour.

Continue your tour of Glen Haven on the following pages

Glen Haven History Intro Page
Glen Haven Dock
Sleeping Bear Inn
Wooding & Lumber Operations
General Store
Blacksmith Shop
Schoolhouse
Glen Haven Shipping
Canning Company
Other Topics