This waterfront used to be the lumber port of Newport. In 1881, a large wooden pier was built and a small town grow up around it and for the 40 years sailing vessels and barges hauled lumber from the nearby forest. When the forest thinned, the town disappeared with very little evidence of its existence.
The area is now Newport State Park with 11 miles of undeveloped Lake Michigan shoreline and is a special dark in that it received the International Dark Sky Park designation – the 49th in the world. A place to view the stars and meteor showers in the absence of artificial light.
A Dark Sky Park
