ROCK HARBOR AREA

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Settled by Euro-Americans: 1850s
Name: from the harbor surrounded by rock

Long islands make seven-mile-long Rock Harbor, near the island's eastern tip, a pro-tected enclave where boats can dock safely. Within this long stretch is Snug Harbor, where boats from the Keweenaw bring visitors. There the National Park Service has created its island hub, with a lodge, rental cabins, restaurant, and café. From this hub most of the island's half-day excursions on the M.V. Sandy depart. Many trails start here. From the park's head-quarters in Houghton, the park service's Ranger III delivers visitors, staff, supplies and groceries for the entire island. (Ferries from Grand Marais, Minnesota, arrive near the island's southwestern tip at Windigo. It has another visitor center and store but not many other developed attractions.)

The Rock Harbor activity hub has a 60-room hotel with restaurant and snack bar, a small (and expensive) store, one of the island's largest campgrounds, and 20 housekeeping cottages in 10 duplex buildings. Dining room meals are currently $14.50 at breakfast, $17.50 at lunch, and $32.75 at dinner (children about 1/3 off). There's also the Greenstone Grill with burgers, pizza, regional beers, and late-night snacks. At Rock Harbor visitors can use public showers — a joy to grubby backpackers after many days on trail. And they can usually use a satellite phone to communicate with the mainland. (Cell phone towers from nearby Thunder Bay, Ontario, can allow calls from some places on the island, with international roaming charges.) Regular evening programs are held here.

The Rock Harbor marina is home to fishing charters, canoe and kayak rentals, and sightseeing excursions. The famous Rock Harbor lighthouse and the preserved Edisen Fishery are miles west, where Rock Harbor joins Moskey Basin.

Beginning in the 1850s, Rock Harbor was a copper and silver mining site. It had a storehouse, the mining agent's log house, and shanties and barracks for the miners. Several shafts were drilled, the deepest a relatively modest 360 feet. Like most of Isle Royale's numerous mining ventures, the Rock Harbor-area mines didn't pay off.

Later, fisheries located on this long harbor. At the turn of the century, several fishermen here built a resort, attempting to cash in on the island's growing reputation as a vacation paradise.
Isle Royale had first become a resort destination in the 1860s when fancy schooners and steamers brought wealthy families to the resorts situated beside the island's many harbors. At the time, only the wealthy could afford to indulge in such recreational activities.

As America's cities and towns prospered and more families could afford distant summer vacations, Isle Royale vacationers increased, peaking in the 1920s.
In 1902 Tourist Home Resort opened on Rock Harbor's Davidson Island. Not as lavish as other resorts, It was known for its excellent fried fish, rock-hunting and "greenstoning," hiking, and nightly sing-a-longs. Expeditions took tourists to observe a genuine Finlander fishing operation.
In that same year a lodge was built at Snug Harbor, 1/10 mile wide, nested within Rock Harbor. A hay fever refugee discovered this exceptionally well-protected anchorage. That turn-of-the-century lodge was first called Park Place. Eventually it became Rock Harbor Lodge, with a row of guest cabins on either side.

In the 1920s, a more substantial lodging, called "the Guest House," was built overlooking the Rock Harbor channel. Surrounded by a colony of summer homes, the expanded Rock Harbor Lodge survived the 1930s Depression years. By then the movement to turn the island into a national park, promoted by nature-loving summer cottage owners, had won out over touristic development. When Isle Royale National Park came into being in 1940, some of Rock Harbor Lodge became part of the national park complex. A few vestiges of the old resort remain today, but the hotel and rental cottages were built in the 1960s.

Today's simple, spare Rock Harbor, catering to nature lovers and backpackers, is a striking contrast to the island's resort days, when shuffleboard, croquet, tennis, and even golf were favored activities. (—May, 2008)

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