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Hunts' Guide to Michigan's UPPER PENINSULA

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MARQUETTE
POINTS
OF INTEREST

Downtown Marquette. A major U.P. destination for people who like to shop, nibble, drink coffee, dine, and explore interesting downtowns. Stroll past ornate buildings, a historic hotel, many restaurants, a classic department store, an 1883 saloon ... more

Marquette County History Museum. Choice artifacts, some life-sized exhibits with audio, and a good gift shop make this stand out. See an Ojibwa family group,the Burt survey party, a child-scale street of shops ... more

Peter White Library. A dream library renovated and expanded through community visioning: restored 1904 reading rooms, an exhibit gallery, a children's room designed by kids, a community art gallery and shop, and a café/coffee bar with fresh Greek specialties ... more

Ridge and Arch Historic District. A well-maintained neighborhood of historic homes in a variety of late 19th-century styles, and two richly detailed red sandstone churches with unusual stained glass windows, one by Tiffany ... more

Upper Peninsula Heritage Center

Former NMU President Bill Vandement wanted the Superior Dome to be about more than sports. He teamed up with history professor Russell Magnaghi (developer of NMU's Center for Upper Peninsula Studies) to create the ambitious Upper Peninsula Heritage Center. It's housed in The Dome's outer concourse and open without charge. Each display window is over 30 feet long and 10 feet deep. Russ solicited donations from celebrated U.P. people and their families, who were astonishingly generous with artifacts and papers.

"Legends of the Upper Peninsula" honors legendary lawyer-author and trout fisherman JOHN VOELKER (a.k.a. Robert Traver). Here is a model of his cherished fishing camp, and the desk where he wrote Anatomy of a Murder. Also represented are the late State Representative DOMINIC JACOBETTI of Negaunee, patron saint of the U.P. for all the regional projects he funded during his long career; Marquette watercolorist NITA ENGLE, winner of the prestigious American Watercolor Society artist of the year award; and 1951 Nobel Prizewinning nuclear chemist GLENN SEABORG (1912 to 1999) Son of a Swedish railroad mechanic, he lived in Ishpeming until the age of 10, when his family moved to California. His influence was enormous for most of the 20th century. He co-discovered transuranium elements numbered 94 to 102, advised 10 U.S. presidents, became chancellor of the U. of California at Berkeley, and advocated for science education until his death. (His mother had advised him to go into bookkeeping. He owed his illustrious career to one high school science teacher.)

Other exhibit cases feature "NMU Sports Championships," "The Natural World of the Upper Peninsula" (the mineral specimens are beautiful), and "Upper Peninsula Ethnic Groups," illustrated with riveting historic photographs in front of a wall of flags representing countries which produced many U.P. immigrants.

But the display of animals native to the Upper Peninsula is the popular favorite. Rob Aho of the DNR often donates animal remains. He'd like to display all U.P. native animals. A special case has been constructed for a mounted moose found as roadkill. He is a very large animal even though immature. The rack of a large bull moose is next to it, for comparison.

A new project underway in the realm of Upper Peninsula history is the BEAUMIER HERITAGE CENTER, temporarily housed here until funds are raised for a new space on campus. Dr. John Beaumier, from Escanaba, became a successful orthopedic physician at the Mayo Clinic. He and his wife, Mary Jane, continuing their long interest in helping others, have given $1 million to NMU for a center showing how the ethnic and religious backgrounds of Upper Peninsula people made it the distinctive region it is today.

Relevant U.P. materials and objects for the Beaumier Center are already being collected — things as varied as boardinghouse expense records and apple juice cans — as it launches a new capital campaign and seeks an archivist/fundraiser. Papers and artifacts of the late Sam Cohodas, Marquette philanthropist and business legend, are already here. They show how he, with his brother, as teenagers, came from Byelorussia to avoid anti-Semitic persecution and the czar's army. They worked to bring their mother and siblings over, then parlayed a simple business selling apples and cabbage from a pushcart in Keweenaw mining communities into a large regional produce wholesaler and orchard owner. Sam Cohodas also established a Marquette bank that became a regional banking empire. His own artifacts include early Green Bay Packers memorabilia (he was an original Packer Backer) and old Jewish lamps.

Temporarily the Beaumier Heritage Center is in Room C-108 of the Superior Dome. Open Tues & Thurs 1-5 during the semester, perhaps later. Also open during Superior Dome athletic events. Enter the Dome's main entrance.
The Dome is at 1401 Presque Isle north of Fair. Main parking lot at the head of Third. (906) 227-2850. Superior Dome open recreation hours: Mon-Thurs 6 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri to 5 when NMU is in session. Call to confirm. Usually used weekends for special events. Wheelchair-accessible.

Lower Harbor. The beautifully designed focus of the city's Lake Superior waterfront, with a fresh and smoked fish shop, a playground/picnic park next to the marina, a historic lighthouse, a breakwall to walk out on ... more

Marquette Maritime Museum. A low-key museum with lots of great stuff: superb replicas of freighters, three Fresnel lighthouse lenses, hands-on fishing nets and a pilot house, colorful flags from Great Lakes freighters, a miniature reconstruction of a famous WWII naval battle ... more

U.S.S. Darter-Dace Silent Service Memorial. A fascinating computerized, narrated diorama of the Philippine naval battle that crippled the Japanese navy, highlighting the critical role of two subs with U.P. crews and a replica conning tower are part ... more

Marquette Harbor Light. Visitors can now tour this oft-photographed lighthouse on the rocks and take the catwalk 300' out to Lighthouse Point, with great panoramic views of Presque Isle, ore dock, harbor, and town ... more

Lakeside bike path from the Inner Harbor to Presque Isle. You can rent a bike or rollerblades for this beautiful, busy shoreline path from the inner harbor to magical Presque Isle Park, passing a beach and picnic area for students and one for families ... more

Lake Superior & Ishpeming RR Ore Dock. Extending a full quarter mile out into the lake, this huge 75' landmark is where you can watch taconite pellets of iron ore delivered by train and noisily dumped into a waiting ore carrier ... more

Studio Gallery. Four prominent artists display their paintings, jewelry, and welded garden sculptures, gates, and hangings here at their gallery and working studio ... more

Moosewood Nature Center. Started by science teachers, the enthusiastic young staff offers 20 programs and outings a month for families and has some live native reptiles and amphibians to watch. A paved Bog Walk Trail is outside ... more

Presque Isle Park. One of the coolest city parks anywhere, it's a rocky, wooded peninsula jutting into Lake Superior with great vistas, 5 miles of walking paths, swimming pool and water slide, picnic grounds, bandshell ... more

The Village shopping district on Third Street. Between downtown and campus, Third Street has several popular restaurants; an excellent outdoors shop with stylish and functional outerwear; Scandinavian crystal, jewelry, and textiles ... more

Superior Dome. See the wood framework of the world's largest wood dome, used for athletics and community walking and jogging. Interesting exhibits in its outer corridor feature U.P. minerals, ethnic groups, and Upper Peninsula legends John Voelker, Dominic Jacobetti, Nita Engle, Glenn Seaborg, and Sam Cohodas ... more

DeVos Art Museum at Northern Michigan University. With this new facility, the Upper Peninsula has a real art museum, open year-round, with some high-level nationally important exhibits along with local and regional shows ... more

Father Marquette Park/ Chamber of Commerce.. Tourist info with a grand view of a picture-perfect town, harbor, and lighthouse ... more

Marquette County Courthouse. A grand public building from 1902, used with respect. See the impressive courtroom where the Anatomy of a Murder case was tried, the great view from the steps, and the display of Voelker legal memorabilia ... more

St. Peter Cathedral and Baraga Archives. In the cathedral, stained glass windows of saints and scenes from Jesus's life. Next door, the papers of the snowshoe priest from Slovenia involved with the early history of many Michigan communities ... more

Upper Peninsula Children's Museum. Low-tech, free wheeling, imaginative fun in a whacky micro city, a recyclatorium, and a great gift shop. Kids learn about microbiology after sliding down a toilet, fly in a real fuselage cockpit ... more

Marquette Food Co-op. Cheerful one-stop shopping with good produce and more trail mixes, energy bars, soy milk and juices for travelers in the attractive new location downtown ... more

Park Cemetery. Download WMOT deejay Jim Koski's chatty Park Cemetery walking tour and a stroll through this hilly, wooded cemetery becomes a guided tour of the graves of Marquette's founding elite ... more

Jilbert's Dairy. An ice cream parlor is the centerpiece of this headquarters complex of the U.P.'s premier dairy, where you can see milk being processed, picnic next to a giant cow, and shop for various U.P. foods and knick-knacks ... more

Brewmaster's Castle Home. The exterior is exotic, but get a look at what's inside ... more

Bingo and Bargains at the Women's Center. See a favorite U.P. pastime in action any evening. The 3,000-square-foot resale shop is open daytimes ... more

Mount Marquette Scenic Lookout. A rocky summit provides a glorious views of the city, the bay, and the vast expanse of Lake Superior beyond ... more

Marquette Branch Prison. The 1889 part of the prison that looks like it's out of Victorian England, with pretty inmate-tended flower gardens out front ... more

U.S. 41 road cut with ancient algal stromatolites. Looming above Highway 41, this rocky cliff reveals eroded remains of ancient (2 billion-year-old) mountains once far higher than today's Rockies ... more

Michigan Welcome Center. The picnic area provides a striking view of Marquette Bay and the distant city of Marquette, with helpful tourist info in the log Welcome Center ... more

Blueberry Ridge Cross-Country Ski Trail/Escanaba River State Forest. 12K of trails, 1.7 miles of them lighted, are groomed for ski-skating and diagonal stride ... more

Lakenenland. One of the U.P.'s most unusual roadside attractions, a pipefitter's quirky sculpture park. Part political, part fanciful, done just for fun. No fee, nothing to buy. ... more

MARQUETTE

Jilbert's Dairy

Tucked away north of U.S. 41 at the end of Washington, the Jilbert's Dairy offers visitors all kinds of delights: a garden with a giant cow, udder, and milking stool; a museum of U.P. dairy bottles and memorabilia; a U.P. specialty foods shop; and a soda fountain with Jilbert's outstanding ice cream.

Many dairy products distributed all over the Upper Peninsula come from Jilbert's Dairy, which prides itself on not buying milk from cows given hormones to increase milk production. Jilbert's combined plant, ice cream parlor, and store also forms a very popular destination for visitors and locals alike.

Jilbert's has also become a kind of dairy museum. Walls by the office and by the window to the plant are covered with display cases of antique milk bottles and vintage dairy advertising, from old U.P. dairies whenever possible. Recent renovations have extended the dairy museum out into the ice cream parlor, with space for select pieces of dairy equipment.

Glass windows let visitors see ice cream being made and milk being processed. The staff, including owner John Jilbert if he's around, are happy to answer questions.

Ice cream connoisseurs marvel at the flavor of Jilbert's ice cream, which is not premium priced. John Jilbert attributes its "fresher, cleaner taste" to several factors, most importantly, that the cream is really fresh because as a small dairy (small by today's standards), Jilbert's processes milk in the same plant as it makes ice cream, and it uses the very freshest of the cream it produces. Most ice cream is made in specialty plants that buy cream that's somewhat less fresh from dairies some distance away. Jilbert's Mackinac Island Fudge is a better vanilla, with a good, less sweet chocolate. Yooper Mud Slide is another local favorite: chocolate ice cream with fudge sauce and brownie pieces mixed in. Mackinaw City is Jilbert's only Lower Peninsula delivery stop, but the store there takes Jilbert's ice cream to Frankenmuth.

Being a small dairy, and in an isolated area, also has helped Jilbert's in its decision to not use milk from cows given rBGH (bovine growth hormone). "It would be almost impossible for a huge dairy" to insist on hormone-free milk, John said in 2001. "We can pay a little more." To his knowledge, all Wisconsin dairies take milk from herds given rBGH. The 62 dairy farmers in the western and central Upper Peninsula who sell milk to Jilbert's appreciate the money and the herd health benefits. Hormone-free cows live longer, on the average.

In 2004 and 2005, however, Morning Glory, a big Wisconsin dairy cooperative, is widely distributed in Jilbert's territory and is charging less per gallon, usually ten cents less. How many frugal U.P. shoppers will stay loyal to a quality local brand, and how many will switch to save a little?

Jilbert's ice cream parlor also carries Upper Peninsula specialty food products and is a Gordon Food Service outlet. Why? Because Jilbert's sells to small groceries and convenience stores all over the U.P. Those customers can place small orders of Gordon groceries along with their weekly milk delivery. The U.P. specialty foods (Baroni's spaghetti sauce, many jams and jellies, maple syrup, etc.) showcase regional products and sell well to visitors. Other unusual products sold here are sturdy round Wisconsin cheese crates with lids. Used as sewing boxes, tables, and toy chests, they can be covered with fabric. Helmi and Albert Hyrkas use unhomogenized milk from Jilbert's to make a sweetish, soft Finnish cheese, juustuoa, also known as "squeaky cheese." Juustuoa is very good for breakfast with cinnamon toast and coffee. It is traditionally served to guests with pulla (sweet cardamom bread) and coffee. It also shows up at Finnish smorgasbords, where it's eaten with rye bread and salmon.

The Jilbert's Dairy building and grounds are attractions in their own right. Jilly the giant Holstein cow, adopted as Jilbert's mascot around 1990, has the brand resonance of a much longer history. One Jilly is perched on the silo. Another, mounted on a trailer, goes on the road for parades and local events. The third and biggest Jilly is just waiting for a photo op of someone seated on a milk pail by a giant udder. It's in a pretty little garden up the stairs opposite the ice cream parlor entrance.

Jilbert's impressive stone barn was built as the horse barn for the Upper Peninsula Brewing Company, as part of its elaborate, castle-like brewery complex. Most of the brewery was demolished for the D&N bank building. (The original brew master's office on Meeske, now surrounded by a fanciful garden, is the office of the local Big Boy franchisee.)

John Jilbert takes great pride in another historic preservation project in adaptive reuse: his own house, due to appear in Architectural Digest. He built it to incorporate the ruins of a picturesque stone and log pavilion built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s for Marquette State Park west of town. The park was abandoned during World War II. After Jilbert's Dairy moved from Calumet to Marquette's more central location in 1984, John Jilbert bought the former state park property, subdivided it, and kept three lots for himself. Visitors are welcome to drive by. Here's how to find it: from U.S. 41 just west of town, turn south onto CR 492 just east of Menard's. Drive south about a mile. Turn right onto Weiland Drive, drive around the circle to Bishop Woods Drive and look for the house.

Jilbert's Dairy is at the corner of W. Ridge & Meeske Ave. From downtown, take Washington out to Meeske (almost at U.S. 41, turn right). Or, take U.S. 41 to Business 41 (by the Holiday Inn); then take Business 41 north to Meeske. If coming from the west, it's easier to turn left just east of Shopko onto McClellan, go north and turn left again onto Washington. You can see the large fiberglass cow and red barn from U.S. 41. (906) 225-1363. Open daily including Sunday year-round. From mid April thru fall color season open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. In winter open 10-6. Wheelchair-accessible.

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