Located where the St. Clair River meets Lake Huron, Port Huron is a bustling city and the seat of Michigan’s St. Clair County. It was originally inhabited by the Ojibwa people before a French trading post was established here in the 17th century, followed by the United States stockade of Fort Gratiot.
Things to do in Port Huron
Occupying a former library building is the Carnegie Center, which serves as the main exhibition space of the Port Huron Museum. It houses Michigan’s largest collection of model ships and a permanent exhibit about the history of African Americans in the area. On the ground floor of the museum is the 1850s-built Kammer Cabin, which brings to life the rural traditions of St. Clair County.
On the west bank of the St. Clair River is the Huron Lightship Museum, which preserves the last “floating lighthouse” to operate on the Great Lakes. Listed as a National Historic Landmark, this 1918-built vessel is accessible to the public as a museum ship, with its original light and fog horn on display.
A short stroll north will take you to the Thomas Edison Depot Museum, which was originally constructed in 1858 as the Gratiot Railway Station. It was here that a young Thomas Edison worked as a news butcher during the 1860s before going on to invent the electric light bulb. Today, the depot exhibits archaeological findings from Edison’s boyhood home and early phonographs he invented, as well as the world’s largest light bulb.
Getting around Port Huron
Port Huron is around an hour's drive from Detroit and 1.5 hours from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, which has flights to destinations across North America and Europe. Long-distance trains connect to the Port Huron railway station and buses travel throughout the city, connecting most of its attractions.