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Saugatuck Chain Ferry

1857 establishments in Michigan1940 disestablishments in Michigan1965 establishments in MichiganCable ferries in the United StatesFerries of Michigan
Tourist attractions in Allegan County, Michigan
SaugatuckChainFerry
SaugatuckChainFerry

The Saugatuck Chain Ferry is a hand-cranked chain ferry that crosses the Kalamazoo River in Saugatuck, Michigan. It connects downtown Saugatuck to Mount Baldhead Park and Oval Beach. It is the only operational hand-cranked chain ferry in the Great Lakes region, and it is also believed to be the last such ferry operating in the United States.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Saugatuck Chain Ferry (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Saugatuck Chain Ferry
Water Street,

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Wikipedia: Saugatuck Chain FerryContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 42.6584 ° E -86.2058 °
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Address

Water Street
49453
Michigan, United States
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SaugatuckChainFerry
SaugatuckChainFerry
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Saugatuck Gap Filler Radar Annex
Saugatuck Gap Filler Radar Annex

The Saugatuck Gap Filler Annex (ADC ID: P-67C, NORAD ID: Z-67C, Z-34G) is a decommissioned radar installation that once served in the vast Cold War era Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) air defense system. Of the hundreds of SAGE radars, Saugatuck's is one of, perhaps, two that remain nearly completely intact. Located immediately across the Kalamazoo River from Saugatuck, Michigan, at the top of Mount Baldhead, a 230-foot dune on the shore of Lake Michigan, the annex was positioned to fill gaps in the coverage of long-range "heavy" radars sited further inland. The heavy radars searched for attacking Soviet bombers but were unable to detect aircraft flying low to the west of the dunes along Lake Michigan. Saugatuck's original AN/FPS-14 radar was commissioned in mid-1958 and operated until it was replaced with a more capable AN/FPS-18 in 1963. The FPS-18 radar served continuously until the site was decommissioned early in 1968. The city of Saugatuck purchased the building, tower, and radar equipment from the Air Force in 1969. Today, the installation appears very much as it did when operational with virtually all of the Cold War-era electronic equipment still in place. The Saugatuck Gap Filler Annex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2022, and efforts are underway by a work group commissioned by the city of Saugatuck to stabilize the site and secure funding for further preservation and restoration.