Take the ferry Memorial Day weekend through the second Monday in October to this primitive Lake Michigan island where no vehicles are allowed. This unique park features the Pottawatomie Lighthouse as well as stone buildings built by a wealthy inventor who owned the island between 1910 and 1964. Rock Island offers rustic, walk-in campsites, hiking trails, a swimming beach and miles of shoreline to explore.
In 1929 Chester Thordarson built this boathouse with help from Frederick Dinkelberg, a noted Chicago architect, to design the limestone monolith; Thordarson served as his own general contractor. The structure was anchored to bedrock seven feet below the water's surface. All the stone – in fact, almost all the building materials, except the red tile roof that weighs 50 tons – came from the island. The lower level of the boathouse can accommodate two 50-foot yachts. Atop it, rising 65 feet above the water, is the 40' x 70' architectural wonder that Thordarson called his Jewel House of Art and Nature. Thordarson's boathouse has been deemed one of the most historically significant buildings in the state, it is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Poster Print
A poster print is created using a professional laser printer on heavy, cover stock paper. The quality of the print and of the paper vary. Colors are placed on the paper with dots.
Artist Print
An artist's proof is a print produced by a professional printer.