The Emmet County Transportation Quest Geo-trail will take participants on a tour to discover the interesting historic transportation places in the county. Each cache will provide a specific answer to a question on the passport. Information and the passport can be downloaded from the Emmet County web site http://www.emmetcounty.org/geocache/
Once 25 of the caches in this tour have been completed, the passport can be taken to Emmet County Building, Suite 178 or mailed to Beth Eckerle, Emmet County Building, Suite 178, 200 Division St., Petoskey, MI 49770 to receive a collectable souvenir coin for this series.
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Before the Mackinac Bridge opened in 1957, ships were the only means of connecting Michigan’s peninsulas. During the 1800’s, small sailing vessels served as ferries. Steamboats took over when the Michigan Central Railroad reached Mackinaw in 1881. The creation of a railroad car ferry system and the construction of the dock to the left and one like it in St. Ignace enabled ferries to shuttle rail cars across the Straits of Mackinac year-round. The black “A-frame” adjusted the height of the tracks to match the track on the decks on the ships. Upper Peninsula copper and iron ore were the main cargo. The ice-breaking ferry Chief Wawatam was unique for loading cars through the bow. It ceased operations in 1984 and the tracks were removed in 1991.