Marquette, Michigan
Traveling the South Shore Lake Superior Circle Tour

Downtown Marquette and Historic Buildings

Marquette's early settlement was due to the discovery of large masses of iron ore nearby in the 1840s. It was officially incorporated as a village in 1859 and a city in 1871. The city and its residents have done a great job preserving the old historic brownstone buildings.

Marquette City Hall, built in 1894-5, is constructed of sandstone and red brick and served the city until the structure was sold and converted to a professional office building in the 1970s.

The Marquette County Courthouse, built in 1902-4, is still in use today. In 1959 it was used as the setting for the movie Anatomy of a Murder directed by Otto Preminger.

Downtown is well elevated over the lake with trees, benches, and old-fashioned street lamps.

While mining remains part of the economic picture, the city is clean, with lots of big trees, well maintained residentail neighborhoods, and nice wooded parks.

< < < The city is full of classic, well maintained brownstone buildings like St. Peter Cathedral built in 1891-2.

The Marquette Harbor and park is just a few blocks walk from downtown.

Marquette Lakefront

The Fire Bell Tower anchors the Mattson Lower Harbor Park. The Fire Bell has served the Marquette community since being installed in the Spring Street Firehouse in the 1990's. After it was retired it was placed here at the entrance to the park.

The protected harbor provides ample room for sailing. Most of the ships docked at the Marina were sailing vessels with a few commercial fishing ships and power yachts here and there.

In the Harbor Park parking lot we found this great example of "Yooper Ingenuity" in this Bulk Milk Hauling truck turned into a muscular Motor Home-RV Camper.

Go Here to see more examples of Yooper Creativity - The Yooper Tourist Trap.

Camping & Parks & Golfing

Presque Isle Park is a 323 acre forested oval shaped headland/peninsula which juts into Lake Superior in the northern tip of the City. While the park has every other amenity you'd expect, it has no camping.

It is a nice place for some walking exercise, scenic views, or a picnic. If you are staying in the area there are summer concerts at the Band Shell, a municipal pool with a water slide, and a Lake Superior beach swimming area.

The Tourist Park Campground is open from mid-May to mid-October with 100 sites for either RV or tent camping and 10 rustic sites for tent-only camping. Amenities include a playground, ball diamond, picnic areas, swimming beach, full service restrooms, limited Wi-Fi, and RV dumpwater station.

Marquette Tourist Park Campground Map > > >

See our Marquette Restaurant and Pub Reviews