‘World’s Largest Weather Vane’ inspired by Lake Michigan shipwreck 123 years ago

MONTAGUE, MI — On an unremarkable corner in a lakeside town, there’s a unique roadside stop. It claims a world record but its history is Pure Michigan.

The “world’s largest weathervane” stands tall at 48 feet high at the corner of Dowling and Water Street in Montague.

There are other weather vanes claiming the top spot, like the Tío Pepe arrow atop a museum dedicated to the Sherry maker in Spain and a decommissioned World War II aircraft atop a swiveling support in Canada.

Even if it loses its crown, Montague’s self-proclaimed world’s largest weather vane is rated “worth a detour,” by Roadside America.

This year marks its 40th anniversary. Here’s a little history on how this mammoth monument came to be.

RELATED: Looking back at ‘The World’s Largest Weather Vane’ through photos

Atop the working weather vane is a slowly careening lumber schooner, paying homage to a real ship, Ella Ellenwood, that called White Lake its home port.

The symbol was chosen because “it best typifies the colorful but rugged history of the area,” according to the plaque at the base of the weather vane.

Ella Ellenwood was sailing in an era when West Michigan lumber was crossing the Great Lakes to build Milwaukee and Chicago.

Built in East Saginaw in 1869, the lumber schooner was owned and operated by Captain Thomas Flagstad of Montague who ported her in White Lake.

Her story took a turn on the night of Oct. 1 1901, while on a run to Milwaukee carrying maple edgings and shingles.

About eight miles north of the Milwaukee harbor she ran aground and within hours the strong winds and waves took her down. The captain and his crew were forced to abandon the ship as it broke up in Lake Michigan.

“They made shore safely in the schooner’s yawl with the aid of a compass and an anchor light,” according to weather vane plaque.

Only the bark cargo was salvaged. The maple edgings and the rest of the schooner were “left to the elements.”

In a serendipitous return voyage, the Ellenwood’s wooden nameplate traveled 60 miles across Lake Michigan and washed ashore in White Lake the following spring.

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In 1984, the weather vane was constructed with a 14-foot-long ornament depicting the Ellenwood.

The weather vane sits in the Ellenwood Park at the corner, nearby the Twisters ice cream shop.

The project was conceived and developed by Thomas Pletcher, owner of Whitehall Metal Studios, now called Whitehall Products.