The historically accurate 1930s Fish House replica, offers a self guided tour of the artifacts from our commercial fishing collection including tools, implements, clothing, as well as a locally built fishing boat.

In protected harbors such as Grand Marais, the fish houses were often built out into the water on cribbed docks allowing skiffs to come alongside. Three such fish houses had been located just east of this replica. Elsewhere on the North Shore, fish houses were built on land. Now an almost forgotten occupation on the North Shore, a remnant of the fishing industry remains at Grand Marais.

The Cook County Historical Society, in partnership with the City of Grand Marais, operates this self-guided fish house and tug that honors the once dominant commercial fishing industry. The fishing tug Nee-Gee  was built by James Scott in 1935-36. It was rescued and restored by the Society and returned to its home on the Grand Marais Harbor.

The Nee-Gee, or “friend” in Ojibwe, is a 35 foot fishing tug built by the Scott family in Grand Marais in the 1930s and used here to the end of the 1950s. The Nee-Gee is one of four fishing tugs used in Cook County to allow fishing farther out into the lake. The others were the Atlantis, owned by the Kluck family, and the Flow owned by Randolph Samskar, both fishing out of Grand Marais harbor. The Deer was owned by the Koss family and fished primarily out of Hovland. The Nee-Gee, however, is the only one built in Cook County, about two blocks away from where she now resides.