View of the ivy-covered Public Library in Ludington, Michigan. Printed on front: "Public Library, Ludington, Mich." Printed on back: "Mfd. by Wayne Paper Box Prtg. Corp., Fort Wayne, Ind." Handwritten on back: "Dear Doctor Quaife, Plan to leave here Monday so will miss the State Hist. Soc. meeting. Am enjoying the vacation and rest. Say 'hello' to Bill and any of the others you may see with best wishes." c.1941

Ludington, Michigan. 10/10/24.

The Badger Arrives

The former car ferry for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, now a tourist operation for the most part, arrives Ludington, Michigan. It now carries people and their automobiles across the lake between this place and Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The structure in the foreground is the Ludington North Breakwater Light.

[I should note: the railroad had a sister ship to this one named the Spartan. Thus one for a Wisconsin State University and one for one situated Michigan. I doubt that this would happen in contemporary times with the attack on higher education going on.]

This was very much one of these events where things unfold every so slowly, lulling one into a complacency...only to then accelerate very quickly. This so much as to catch a photographer with their pants down, but I think I was able to squeeze off the frames that I wanted. This daily summer event deserves more attention—and perhaps booking passage; one can go here if interested.

One thing that mildly disconcerts me regarding these shots: the lighthouse seen here has a definite tilt toward open water. [Whenever possible, I level my images based on the horizon, easily done here with Lake Michigan in the background, and the tilt is real.] I don't know if it was designed that way, to withstand pounding of large waves from that direction, or something that's happened over time.