🇺🇸 WEEKLY AMERICAN HERITAGE: Apostle Islands National Lakeshore

(Explore the history and landscape of the United States as we celebrate the 250th anniversary of American Independence. Get out your atlas and almanac and follow along!)

Wisconsin is our homeschool state-of-the-week, so why not spend a few minutes today with your students learning about one of Wisconsin’s important natural and historical places: Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, which preserves and interprets Wisconsin’s northern Lake Superior shoreline.

“Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, located at the northern tip of Wisconsin’s Bayfield Peninsula, features 21 stunning islands, a scenic 12-mile shoreline along Lake Superior, and is located within the ancestral homeland of the Ojibwe people. Established in 1970, the park showcases picturesque sea caves, sandy beaches, and the largest collection of lighthouses in the National Park system.”

The story of the Apostle Islands is not just a chain of islands in Lake Superior, but one of people, places, and their experiences. To this day, families gather near this lake to enjoy the scenery, visit with each other and friends, use campsites, cook a meal and share stories over a fire, go for a dip in the lake and dry off in the hot sun. A tradition which stretches back for thousands of years, over which time, Native Americans occupied the islands and surrounding area.

Traces of past lives are strewn across the islands as people have lived, worked, and visited this area throughout the centuries. Their impact can be as dramatic as lighthouse or fish camp, and as small as a chunk of charcoal. The waves of Lake Superior hide other stories in underwater shipwrecks.

Throughout the Apostle Islands nature has shaped the history of this place. The abundant natural resources of the islands, especially the forests and fisheries, and the location in Lake Suprior near the western edge of the Great Lakes waterway have been key elements affecting why and how people settled and used the islands. The historic properties that the park maintains cover 23 acres of grounds. Our staff is dedicated to the challenge of maintaining and preserving these historic landscapes to preserve the historic function, look, and feel of our light stations, visitor centers, and cultural sites. (nps.gov)

You can find a wealth of additional information about this site’s history, landscape, location(s), and visitor facilities on the webpage for Apostle Islands National Lakeshore from the National Park Service, and also on the site’s page on Wikipedia.

Explore America’s National Parks, National Historical Parks, National Historic Sites, National Monuments, and more via Wikipedia and via the U.S. National Park Service’s website today.

What American treasures will you and your students be exploring in your homeschool this Leo Term? 🇺🇸

❡ The great globe itself: This is one of our regular Homeschool Geography posts featuring important natural and historical sites in the United States. Print your own copy of our River Houses American Heritage Calendar and follow along with us, and add your name to our weekly mailing list to get great homeschool teaching ideas delivered right to your mailbox all through the year. 🌎

❡ We set to-day a votive stone: If you want a great long-term history and geography project for your homeschool, explore the Historical Marker Database online (hmdb.org) and make a plan to find all the markers that are listed in your local area. Add any new ones you know of that are missing, and add new photos or descriptions for the ones already included. Your students will gain a better appreciation for your local community and will learn a wealth of new information about history and geography. 🏛️

❡ Print this little lesson: Down at the bottom of this post you’ll find a special “Print” button that will let you create a neat and easy-to-read copy of this little lesson, and it will even let you edit and delete sections you don’t want or need (such as individual images or footnotes). Give it a try today! 🖨️

❡ Books in the running brooks: You can always turn to your River Houses atlas and almanac for more information about any of our homeschool states-of-the-week. The almanac has detailed profiles of all the U.S. states and territories, and the endpapers of the atlas are indexes that will show you where all of the individual national and regional maps may be found. 📚

❡ Homeschool calendars: We have a whole collection of free, printable, educational homeschool calendars and planners available on our main River Houses calendar page. They will help you create a light and easy structure for your homeschool year. Give them a try today! 🗓️

❡ Support our work: If you enjoy our educational materials, please support us by starting your regular Amazon shopping from our very own homeschool teaching supplies page. When you click through from our page, any purchase you make earns us a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for helping us to keep going and growing! 🛒