- [Adam] Exploring the sunrise coast of Michigan meant a road trip on Heritage Route 23.

The journey took us past one of a kind roadside attractions that make this part of the state special.

Stopping to checkout this Paul Bunyan statue built in the 1950s was a must.

A few miles north, we made our way into Alpena.

Island Park gave us just a glimpse of the natural beauty found in the area.

Continuing up Route 23, a detour allowed us to explore three lighthouses, each one a bit different, but all worth checking out.

On the road again, we made our way into Rogers City, nicknamed the nautical city.

Visiting the county historical museum, we learned the history of the area and discovered they are home to a world record holder.

- It's beautiful in the summertime.

It's right on US-23, so it's, if you're going up the Lake Huron coast, you get to Mackinaw City, you drive right past it.

It's a nice little town, it's got a lot of good stuff.

Lot of boating, very popular with boaters in the marina.

Tourism is one of the big summertime industries, - [Adam] Like many coastal towns, the city is home to a unique lighthouse.

- Forty Mile Point Lighthouse got its name for being about halfway between Presque Isle and Mackinaw.

It's about 40 miles from Mackinaw, which is how it got its name.

For a good part of the early 20th century, it was one of the main navigational beacons for the coast of Lake Huron.

- [Adam] The lighthouse was constructed at the request of the US Lighthouse Board.

When the light turned on for the first time in 1897, sailors could now travel from Mackinaw Point to the St. Clair River and be in view of a lighthouse the entire trip.

- Presque Isle County was really started as a lumber area.

It was a boom community for lumber, especially in the late 1800s, early 1900s.

The lumber was the original trade for about 30-ish years.

And then in 1911 is when the limestone quarry was really started.

And then commercial operations began in 1912.

- [Adam] Located just outside of town.

The Carmeuse Calcite Operation, commonly referred to as Calcite, is a destination we're stopping to experience.

To put in perspective how big this mine is, it can be seen from the International Space Station.

- The quarry here is actually the largest open lot face limestone quarry in the world.

There's others in Europe that are deeper, but in terms of just pure area and limestone mined, Roger City has the largest in the world.

The quarry itself goes out for miles, but you can see the plant, you can see all of the buildings, and you can see a good chunk of what was mined already.

But a lot of what's currently being mined is out further out, and you can't really see that from the quarry view.

And then 1911 is when the limestone quarry was really started, and then commercial operations began in 1912.

The local group of people called the Rogers City Land Company led by Paul Heft and several other locals, they were trying to get funding for a limestone company, 'cause they knew that the limestone was plentiful and it could be useful.

- [Adam] Limestone is a mineral used for making chemicals, cement, and steel.

It is shipped throughout the Great Lakes region.

In Michigan, it is essential to the production of beet sugar.

- The limestone is just rock that was crushed by the glaciers hundreds of thousands of years ago.

And when the glaciers were seeded, created the Great Lakes, the limestone was underneath the ground.

So to get it, first you have to clear the top soil and everything to actually expose the rock.

Then you blast it out with explosives.

It gets crushed up to various sizes, and those sizes gets sorted based on their uses.

And then they get sorted into different piles, and those piles are then put on ships to go to different ports.

- [Adam] Utilizing their location on the shores of Lake Huron, it wasn't long before ports were full of steam ships carrying limestone.

- Shipping has been going up and down the lakes for decades, but Michigan Limestone got their first boat in March of 1912.

The limestone was shipping out around the same time the boat started, because they knew that if they had their own ships, they could more easily ship stone around the lakes without having to rely as much on other ship companies.

- [Adam] To streamline the transportation of raw materials, the Michigan Limestone and Chemical Company designed and invented the first self unloading ship, a design that is still used today.

The advantage of this new technology was the ships carry their own equipment on onboard to unload their cargo directly onto the dock, eliminating the need for expensive shoreside unloading rigs.

Over the years, the mine and subsequently their fleet of ships have changed ownership.

In the 1920s, they became part of US Steel.

Currently the mine is owned by Carmeuse Lime.

It is still actively mined, with mining and shipping an estimated 10.5 million tons of limestone a year throughout the Great Lakes.

- If you've heard of Rogers City, it's probably because of the quarry, but I don't think a lot of people really understand the sheer scope of it.

Just with how long it's been mining, how big it's gotten.

And it's kind of a point of pride for Rogers City 'cause it's such a small town.

So to say, yeah, we are world renowned for our limestone, it's a feat.