The Emergency Ark Hidden in Michigan's Thumb
Locals call this massive rural art installation the Boat Barn
Port Austin — A drive through the Thumb is notoriously boring. The windmills are cool for about 30 seconds, and then you're just waiting for the drive to be over.
But about 10 miles southwest of Port Austin, in the middle of all that farmland, there might actually be a reason to pull over.
It's called the Celestial Ship of the North, or "Emergency Ark," though almost nobody calls it that. Everyone who drives past it just refers to it as the Barn Boat.
It was built in 2015 by Detroit-based artist Scott Hocking, who's known for site-specific installations and sculptures made from found materials in neglected locations. He often explores themes of transformation, decay, and the cycles of nature.
This specific piece was built entirely from the wood of a collapsing 1890s barn that originally sat on the property and was donated to Hocking by farm owners Bill and Loraine Goretski. He spent about three months on the project, rebuilding it into what now looks like a giant Noah's Ark stranded in the middle of Northern Michigan.
Hocking was also keen on letting the weather and environment take part in shaping the finished sculpture. The strong, consistent winds you see out in the Thumb ended up shaping the ark just as much as he did.
And the beauty of this art piece is that the weather will continue to take part in it forever. Just like the barn it came from, it'll keep changing and decaying out there for as long as it stands.
The ark technically sits on private property, but you can still get pretty close to see it from the road, and towering over miles and miles of farmland, it's pretty hard to miss.
If you want to see the Barn Boat for yourself, it’s located at 3429 Fehner Rd., Port Austin. From I-75, take Exit 162A and drive east on MI-25 for 60.5 miles. Turn right just past the brown Oak Beach County Park sign onto Oak Beach Road, drive a little over a mile, then turn left onto Fehner Road. You'll see the giant wooden structure ahead on the right.
I'd say it's one of the cooler roadside attractions you'll find in the Thumb, something to break up the drive.
It's weird, it's random, and it might just be cool enough to pull over and see on your next trip Up North.
