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9h ago

Edmund Fitzgerald at 50 Draws Crowds as Bells Toll and Memorials Expand

Family-led commemorations center on the recovered bell, reflecting a surge of public interest.

Frederick Stonehouse, whose 1977 book "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" was the first written on the famous ship, discusses the impact of the disaster 50 years later on Oct. 25, 2025, in Marquette, Mich. (AP Photo/Scott Bauer)
Stained glass with Rev. Richard W. Ingalls' name is displayed at the Mariner's Church in Detroit, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
The bell at the Mariner's Church in Detroit is displayed, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
FILE - The Fitzgerald in a 1959 file photo, with a crew of 28 to 30 men, was carrying a load of 26,216 tons of taconite pellets. (AP Photo, file)

Overview

  • The Great Lakes Historical Museum in Whitefish Point will host a Nov. 10 public event, livestream a separate family-only ceremony, and is on track for its busiest year tied to the anniversary.
  • Detroit’s Mariners’ Church plans to ring its bell 30 times on the anniversary, with the final toll honoring all Great Lakes sailors, continuing a tradition that began in 1975.
  • The wreck lies about 17 miles north-northwest of Whitefish Point in roughly 535 feet of water and is legally protected as a gravesite under Canadian law, with the ship’s bell recovered in 1995 and preserved as a permanent memorial.
  • The exact cause of the 1975 sinking remains unresolved despite competing theories, yet the tragedy prompted safety reforms and historians note no similar-sized freighter has been lost on the lakes since.
  • Gordon Lightfoot’s 1976 ballad elevated the Fitzgerald to global renown, and he later revised a lyric at families’ request, helping sustain cross-generational interest in the story.