Ft. Wilkins, Copper Harbor, Michigan By elkper on Feb 02, 2008 - Updated Oct 15, 2011

Ft. Wilkins State Park is located in Copper Harbor Michigan at the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula. Ft. Wilkins was basically built to protect the white people going to the area to mine copper from the Indians that were native. It is a fairly large, white painted wooden fort. Not all of the buildings in the fort are fully restored yet, but there is still a lot to see. Some of the buildings are made into museums showing weapons, clothing, and utensils used in the early years of the fort. Other buildings in the fort have the furnishings that are similar to those that were originally in the building. The volunteers that are at the fort dress in period costume and answer your questions as if they were actually living in the fort in the late 1800's or early 1900's. They have different ranks of soldiers you can talk to as well as wifes of some of the soldiers. It is in a beautiful location on the edge of Lake Fannie Hoe and there are several very nice restaurants near by as well as a couple of motels. If you go to Copper Harbor, I highly recommend a stop at the Fort for a couple of hours.