Coast Guides
Added in 2026. The original Schooner Coast site was a short, cheerful brochure. These longer guides were written for the archive from public records, so the old pages have somewhere to send you when one paragraph is not enough.
Each guide links back to the restored pages it grew out of. Facts come from the National Register of Historic Places, NOAA, the Wisconsin Historical Society, Wisconsin DNR, Wikipedia and the museums themselves; the sources sit at the bottom of every guide. Opening hours and prices change, so treat anything practical as a starting point and confirm with the attraction.
- Shipwrecks of the Schooner Coast
Every National Register shipwreck from Manitowoc to Sturgeon Bay in one table, which ones you can see from shore, and what the 2021 marine sanctuary protects.
- Lighthouses of the Schooner Coast
Eight lighthouses from Manitowoc to Sturgeon Bay: years built, heights, National Register status and how close you can get, from Rawley Point to the canal.
- The Rouse Simmons: The Christmas Tree Ship
The Rouse Simmons, Captain Santa and the November 1912 storm: the last sighting off Kewaunee, the 1971 discovery of the wreck and where its relics are now.
- Subs, Tugs & Car Ferries
USS Cobia, the tugs Ludington and John Purves, the fish tug Buddy O, the S.S. Badger and Ann Arbor No. 1: the submarine, tugs and car ferries of the coast.
- The Denis Sullivan: Wisconsin's Schooner, Then and Now
How volunteers built the schooner Denis Sullivan in Milwaukee, why she was sold to World Ocean School in 2022, and where the ship sails today in 2026.
- Salmon and Trout Fishing off Kewaunee and Algoma
Chinook, coho and trout off Kewaunee and Algoma: why salmon live in Lake Michigan, the Kewaunee River fish ladder, seasons, licenses, charters and piers.
- Three Days on the Schooner Coast: Manitowoc to Sturgeon Bay
A three-day Lake Michigan road trip from Manitowoc to Sturgeon Bay: USS Cobia, Rawley Point, the Kewaunee fish ladder, Algoma's harbor and the ship canal.
- Winter on the Door Peninsula: Ice, Ships and a Week Down South
Door County in winter: how far Lake Michigan freezes, the Sturgeon Bay winter fleet, the Washington Island ferry, three winter events and a February escape.