Johns Hotel

Johns Hotel is a two-story log building at the eastern end of Barnum Island in Washington Harbor. It is the oldest surviving building representing Isle Royale’s resort era, and opened in 1892 as the Johns family’s first accommodation for recreational visitors. It’s a historic site, not a working hotel. The park’s history pages don’t identify a public landing, route, or interior tour, so check with park staff before planning a stop ashore or expecting to go inside.

John F. Johns worked in both mining and fishing. In an 1893 interview, he said he had lived in the area for 16 years and fished for seven. The hotel opened against that working landscape: in the 1890s, the Johns family’s resort and an active fishery shared the eastern end of Washington Harbor.

Duluth grain merchant George Barnum visited in 1895 and bought the island in 1902. He invited friends to build summer cabins, and the colony was busy by the 1920s. Seventeen historic structures remain across the island, including cottages, privies, boathouses, a woodshed, and a smokehouse. A shared dining room once stood near the Johns Hotel, but it is gone.

The Johns buildings use horizontal, notched logs; later cottages were built as more uniform frames. If you can view the hotel from an authorized landing, its notched corners and tall gable are the details to look for and include in a photo.