Tower of History, Sault Ste. Marie: Hours, Cost, History

The Tower of History rises 210 feet over Sault Ste. Marie, a concrete and glass spike the Catholic Church built in 1968 as the Shrine of the Missionaries. It was meant to be one piece of a much larger complex. The rest of that complex never got built.

Looking up at a tall, angular concrete tower rising between two slanted concrete wings, with a railing and blue sky with clouds. Photo: Antony-22 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). — The concrete Tower of History in Sault Ste. Marie, photographed from its lower terrace in July 2025. Photo: Antony-22 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

What stands today is the part they finished: three trapezoid-shaped columns, an express elevator and viewing platforms hanging over the Soo Locks. Sault Historic Sites says the view from the top covers up to 1,200 square miles, including the locks, the St. Marys River and the Canadian wilderness. The 2026 season ends October 17, so the window is closing.

An elevated view over rooftops and a long industrial powerhouse along a canal, with open water and a distant shoreline under a pale sky. Photo: Jet Lowe (Library of Congress) / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain). — The view southeast from the Tower of History in July 1978, looking at the Michigan Lake Superior Power Company powerhouse. Photo: Jet Lowe (Library of Congress) / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain).

A Steeple for the Missionaries

The parish behind it was St. Mary’s, which traces its roots to 1668, when Jacques Marquette founded the Sainte-Marie Mission at the rapids. In 1968 the people of St. Mary’s had a bell tower constructed that also served as a shrine to the many missionaries who served the church. Paul Sabourin, curator for Sault Historic Sites, told SooLeader it honored early missionaries like the venerable Bishop Frederic Baraga.

The shape carries its own theology. There are three balconies on the tower, and Sabourin said they represent the three crosses on Calvary, or the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The design came from George Rafferty of Progressive Design Associates in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

The Budget Climbed Faster Than the Elevator

The money is where the plan came apart. Wikipedia, drawing on 1970s Michigan newspaper coverage, says the tower was first estimated at just $50,000 and ended up costing nearly $1 million. Sabourin describes it as a $600,000 commitment with an end result of over $1 million.

A new church building and community center were supposed to go up alongside it, but St. Mary’s ended funding for the project. In 1971 the Roman Catholic Diocese of Marquette took responsibility for the tower because of the parish’s money problems. Wikipedia adds that the unforeseen oil crisis took out the tourism growth the planners expected.

Who Actually Got It

In 1980 the diocese let it go. Roadside America says the church gave the tower to the city, which gave it a new name. The operator tells it differently: the Shrine of the Missionaries was donated to Sault Historic Sites, incorporated as Le Sault De Sainte Marie Historical Sites, Inc., in 1980 and has run as the Tower of History ever since.

Wikipedia backs the 1980 date and cites a March 1980 Lansing State Journal story headlined “Diocese donates tower to civic group.” Even the parish’s own history page is off by a year, dating the handoff to 1981.

The name changed along the way. It started as the Tower of Missionaries and was renamed the Tower of History to broaden its appeal. The exhibits still tell the missionary story, now widened to include local and Native American history.

An enclosed observation room with carpeted floor, wooden benches and a wall of tall windows looking out over water and land. Photo: Antony-22 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). — Inside the enclosed observation level of the Tower of History, July 2025. Photo: Antony-22 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

The View From 210 Feet

An express elevator does the climbing, and Wikipedia clocks the ride to the viewing platforms at 45 seconds. Up top you get the St. Marys River, the rapids, the Soo Locks and the International Bridge into Canada. Pure Michigan says you can see the twin cities for 20 miles, and telescopes are available.

Those two numbers agree more than they look. By our own arithmetic, a circle 20 miles in radius covers about 1,257 square miles, right in line with the operator’s 1,200. Down in the lower level there is a mini-museum of Native American culture, so the trip covers the ground floor too.

Sources: Sault Historic Sites; Holy Name of Mary Parish; SooLeader; Sault Ste. Marie Convention and Visitors Bureau; Pure Michigan; Upper Peninsula Travel and Recreation Association; Roadside America; Wikipedia.

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