Northern Michigan

Northern Michigan is a special area in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is part of the lower part of the state, not the very northern part called the Upper Peninsula. This region is bounded by Lake Michigan on one side and Lake Huron on the other. You can travel to the Upper Peninsula using the famous Mackinac Bridge.

Many people visit Northern Michigan because it is beautiful and quiet. It has lots of forests, lakes, and rivers, and parts of the Great Lakes shore. Big cities in this area include Traverse City, Cadillac, Alpena, Ludington, Manistee, and Petoskey.

Life here changes with the seasons, with many people coming to enjoy the area during summer and winter for fun outdoor activities. It is more peaceful and less crowded than other parts of Michigan.

History

See also: Timeline of Michigan history and Michigan § History

Pre-colonial era: itinerant Native American tribes

For thousands of years before European settlers arrived, Northern Michigan was home to many Native American cultures and tribes. This area was where scholars believed the Laurel complex, a group of ancient people, lived. They were part of a large trading network called the Hopewell Indian exchange system.

According to Menominee tradition, this tribe's original homeland was farther north, near present-day Sault Ste. Marie and Michilimackinac. At some period before European contact (probably around 1600), they were forced southwest to the Menominee River by arrival of the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi from the east. Odawa history written by Andrew Blackbird records that Emmet County was thickly populated by a race of Indians that they called the Mush-co-desh, which means "the prairie tribe". The Mush-co-desh had an agrarian society and were said to have "shaped the land by making the woodland into prairie as they abandoned their old worn out gardens which formed grassy plains". Ottawa tradition claims that they slaughtered from forty to fifty thousand Mush-co-desh and drove the rest from the land after the Mush-co-desh insulted an Ottawa war party. Previous to the Mush-co-desh, the areas surrounding the Straits of Mackinac, was home to the Michinemackinawgo. Originally known as the Mishiiken Tribe, their summer land was Mackinac Island and their surrounding lands were referred to as Mishiiken-imakinakom. These lands included wintering grounds in the hills on the south side of Little Traverse Bay. The Mishiiken were a race of natives of small stature that were nearly wiped out by the Iroquois in the 1640s during the Beaver Wars. The remnants of this race were taken in by the Ojibwe and still exist today amongst the Mackinac Bands of Chippewa and Ottawa Indians.

In the historic period, the Anishinaabe/Algonquian-speaking peoples known as the Ojibwe, Odawa and Potawatomi, formed a loose confederation which they called the Council of Three Fires. They inhabited areas surrounding the Straits of Mackinac, the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan, and the northern islands and shoreline of Canada along Lake Huron.

French and English colonial eras: fur trade and exploration based at the Straits

See also: North American fur trade

Initial colonial influence on Natives: French exploration and Beaver Wars

In 1608, Samuel de Champlain established Quebec as part of New France. He sent coureur des bois such as Étienne Brûlé into the woods to establish relations with the Indians. Around 1615 or 1616, Champlain traveled to Georgian Bay via the French River and met Ottawa and Huron Indians on the south end near Penetanguishene. The French established the North American fur trade with Indian tribes. In the decades that followed, French explorers and missionaries continued to explore the "Upper Country" of New France that included the Upper Great Lakes. In 1634, Jean Nicolet passed through the straits of Mackinac on the way to Wisconsin. While France colonized the interior lands along the St. Lawrence River, the Dutch and English began colonizing the East Coast of North America, setting up fur trade and arming the Iroquois along the east and southeast of the Great Lakes. Competition for trade and pelts resulted in the brutal Beaver Wars. The Iroquois pushed west into the Great Lakes territory, displacing the tribes who had settled there before. As a result of an Iroquois attack and dispersal of the Huron from Southern Ontario in 1649, the Huron sought refuge with the Ojibwe at Michilimackinac where eventually a Jesuit mission was established for their care.

Jesuit Mission at St. Ignace (1671–1696)

Jesuit Father Marquette set up a mission in St. Ignace in 1671. While the Beaver Wars raged on, Marquette evangelized the Indians. From May 17, 1673, until Marquette's death near Ludington on May 18, 1675, Father Marquette and Louis Jolliet explored and mapped Lake Michigan and the northern portion of the Mississippi River. In 1679, René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle and Father Louis Hennepin set out on Le Griffon to find the Northwest Passage; it was the first known sailing ship to sail in Northern Michigan. They sailed across Lake Erie, Lake Huron, and Lake Michigan through uncharted waters, which previously only men in canoes had explored. After Marquette's death, the mission was taken over by Father Phillip Pierson, and then Father Nouvel.

Father Henri Nouvel was "Superior of the Otawa missions", Nouvel served in this position from 1672 to 1680 (with a two-year break in 1678–1679), and again from 1688 to 1695. Under Nouvel, a new chapel was built in approximately 1674. By 1683 the mission was so successful and prosperous that three priests, Fathers Nicholas Potier, Enjalran, and Pierre Bailloquet, were assigned there. The establishment of a French garrison at St. Ignace in 1679 disrupted relations between the French and the local population, as the soldiers were less educated and amiable than the missionaries.

1680s: Fortification (Fort de Buade) at St. Ignace

In 1683, Governor Joseph-Antoine de La Barre ordered Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut and Olivier Morel de La Durantaye to establish a strategic presence on the north shore of the Straits of Mackinac, which connected Lake Michigan and Lake Huron of the Great Lakes. They fortified the Jesuit mission at St. Ignace and La Durantaye settled in as overall commander of the French forts in the northwest: Fort Saint Louis des Illinois (Utica, Illinois); Fort Kaministigoya (Thunder Bay, Ontario); and Fort la Tourette (Lake Nipigon, Ontario). He was also responsible for the region around Green Bay in present-day Wisconsin. In the spring of 1684, La Durantaye led a relief expedition from Saint Ignace to Fort Saint Louis des Illinois, which had been besieged by the Seneca (part of the Iroquois Confederacy) as part of the Beaver Wars; they sought to gain more hunting grounds in order to control the lucrative fur trade. That summer and again in 1687, La Durantaye led coureurs de bois and Indians from the Straits against the Seneca homeland in the territory of western upper New York state. During these years, English traders from New York penetrated the Great Lakes and also traded at Michilimackinac. This, and the outbreak of war between England and France in 1689, led to the new commandant Louis de La Porte de Louvigny directing construction of Fort de Buade in 1690.

1690s: Cadillac at Fort de Buade; St. Ignace Fort and Mission later abandoned

In the 1690s, commander Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac used Fort de Buade as a base of operations to explore and map the Great Lakes. Cadillac left St. Ignace in 1697 and the Jesuits vacated their residence and church by 1705.

The Beaver Wars ended when the Great Peace of Montreal was signed in 1701 in Montreal by the French and 39 Indian chiefs including Kondiaronk (the chief of the Mackinaw-area Huron). When Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac left the area in 1701 to found Detroit, taking many of the St. Ignace residents with him, the importance of the mission declined dramatically.

Early 1700s: Fort Michilimackinac established as a New France outpost

The St. Ignace Mission remained open until 1705, when it was abandoned and burned by Father Étienne de Carheil. It was reopened in 1712, and operated on the north shore of the Straits until 1741, when it was relocated to the south shore. With the relocation of the mission, the exact location of Marquette's chapel was lost.

In 1712, at the beginning of the Fox Wars between the French and the Meskwaki, Canadian Governor Philippe de Rigaud de Vaudreuil sent Constant le Marchand de Lignery to reoccupy the former post of Michilimackinac, which had been abandoned in 1696 by royal orders.

Around 1715 (during the First Fox War), the French re-established a Northern Michigan military outpost at a new site on the northern tip of the lower peninsula and called it Fort Michilimackinac. This location became the new locus for fur and other trade, and mission work with the natives.

Lignery returned to the command of Michilimackinac in 1722 after an absence of about three years fighting the Meskwaki in Illinois. He carried out the orders of acting Governor Charles Le Moyne de Longueuil and (starting in 1726) New France governor Charles de la Boische, Marquis de Beauharnois.

From 1720 to 1722, Pierre François Xavier de Charlevoix stopped at Michilimackinac and other points in Northern Michigan while seeking a Pacific Ocean passage. In 1728, fur trader Augustin Langlade obtained a fur trading license at Michilimackinac. He and his half-Ottawa son Charles Michel de Langlade (born at the fort in 1729) would later strongly influence the Northern Michigan fur trade as well as French relations with Great Lakes tribes during the 1712 to 1733 Fox Wars and the 1754–1763 French and Indian War.

By 1745, the Odawa had created settlements down the coast of Lake Michigan into the Grand Traverse Bay area, with an approximate population between 1,550 and 3,000. This population varied with the seasons, as the tradition was to migrate inland to different camps (sometimes as far as to Illinois) depending upon the season. Some Ojibwe bands also shared the Grand Traverse Bay region with the Odawa.

In 1751, a Jesuit Mission to the Odawa was established in Manistee.

1760s: Beginning of the British era

In the 1760s after defeating the French in the French and Indian War (and in the Seven Years' War in Europe), the British took control of the Straits of Mackinac and other French territory east of the Mississippi River. They encountered resistance from the Natives, who rose up in what was called Pontiac's War (1763–1766). On June 2, 1763 Ojibwe and Sauk warriors killed the majority of white residents at Fort Michilimackinac. Alexander Henry the elder, one of the survivors, was taken captive and transported to Beaver Island but was rescued by the Odawa Wawatam. The British built the more substantial Fort Mackinac at the site in 1780.

The success of rebels in the American Revolutionary War led to another change in parties in the region. Great Britain formally ceded Fort Mackinac at Mackinac Island to the newly independent United States in the Treaty of Paris in 1783, but the British Army refused to evacuate the posts on the Great Lakes until 1796. At that time, they transferred the forts at Detroit, Mackinac, and Niagara to the Americans. British and American forces contested the area again throughout the War of 1812. The boundary was not settled until 1828, when Fort Drummond, a British post on nearby Drummond Island, was evacuated.

1780s to 1830s: United States territorial acquisition, continued fur trade, and territorial disputes

The entire Straits area was officially acquired by the United States from the British through the Treaty of Paris in 1783 and settlement permitted by the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. However, much of the British forces did not leave the Great Lakes area until after 1794, when Jay's Treaty established U.S. sovereignty over the Northwest Territory with Northern Michigan part of "Knox County". Between 1795 and 1815 a system of Métis (descendants of indigenous women who married French (and later Scottish) fur trappers and traders) settlements and trading posts was established throughout Michigan, Wisconsin, and to a lesser extent in Illinois and Indiana. As late as 1829 the Métis were dominant in the economy of Wisconsin and influential in Northern Michigan in part because they were able to work as intermediaries between natives and white fur traders. US settlement of the Michigan Territory (established in 1805) was punctuated by misunderstandings with Native Americans over land ownership. Meanwhile, in 1804, Mackinac Island was the center of the American fur trade. Gurdon Saltonstall Hubbard was one of many of John Jacob Astor's trappers and voyageurs who plied the waters of the Great Lakes in Mackinaw boats and collected pelts to be sold in Europe. As US Congress passed trade and intercourse acts to regulate trade with the natives, the Office of Indian Trade established a US Trading Post "factory" at Mackinaw that was in place until the War of 1812. One of the first engagements of the War of 1812, the Siege of Fort Mackinac was conducted by British and Native American. They captured the island soon after the outbreak of war between Britain and the United States. Encouraged by the easy British victory, more Native Americans subsequently rallied to their support. Native American cooperation was an important factor in several British victories during the remainder of the war. For the rest of 1812 and 1813, the British hold on Mackinac was secure since they also held Detroit, the territorial capital, which the Americans would have to recapture before attacking Mackinac. After the September 1813 Battle of Lake Erie, the British abandoned Detroit leaving an opportunity for the Americans try to retake the waters of Northern Michigan. In July 1814, as Commander of Fort Mackinaw Robert McDouall was struggling to supply war efforts Siege of Prairie du Chien, Americans attacked Mackinaw in July 1814 during the Battle of Mackinac Island. The Americans failed to take over the post, and the British held Mackinac Island until the peace in 1815, after which it was re-occupied by the US.

Mackinac Island continued to be a locus of trade for the American Fur Company and was the site where Army doctor William Beaumont became Post surgeon in 1820 and began conducting his famous digestion experiments on 19-year-old Alexis St. Martin between 1822 and 1833. Mackinac Island was also the site where Henry Schoolcraft located his US Indian Agent headquarters starting in 1833. Following the 1830 Indian Removal Act, Schoolcraft negotiated the 1836 Treaty of Washington which opened up the land north of Grand Rapids for unequivocal legal ownership and settlement of lands in Northern Michigan, with provision that land sales would provide some monetary means to fund skills training for the Natives to assimilate to "civilized" life.

Despite the presence of fur trade, US military and Indian offices, and various tradesmen, the settled population of Michilimackinac (defined as all the settlements from Saginaw to Green Bay) was between 800 and 1000 for the time period between 1820 and 1840.

Early coastal settlements in the 1830s through 1850s

Decline of Mackinaw and fur trade

By the 1840s, the American Fur Company was in steep decline as silk hats replaced beaver hats in European fashion. The straits of Mackinac declined in influence as government offices moved towards the capital at Detroit. While fishing slightly increased, the loss of the fur industry dealt a blow to Michilimackinac's economic significance.

Increased ship traffic along Northern Michigan coasts

The Erie Canal opened in 1825, allowing settlers from New England and New York to reach Michigan by water through Albany and Buffalo. This route opening and the incorporation of Chicago in 1837, increased Great Lakes steamboat traffic from Detroit through the straits of Mackinac to Chicago. While the coastal areas were travelled, practically nothing was known about the interior parts of Northern Michigan. When Michigan became a state in 1837, one of its first acts was to name Douglass Houghton as the lead of the Michigan Geological Survey, an effort to understand the geological and mineralogical, zoological, botanical, and topographical aspects of the lesser known parts of Michigan. Early settlers came to the coasts along Northern Michigan, including fishermen, missionaries to the Native Americans, and participants in early Great Lakes maritime industries such as fishing, lighthouses, and cutting cordwood for passing ships. In 1835, Lieutenant Benjamin Poole of the 3rd U.S. Artillery. surveyed a former Indian path between Saginaw and Mackinac that would become known as the Mackinac Trail.

Indian missions

Missions to Native Americans included Rev. Peter Dougherty and Rev. John Fleming's 1839 Presbyterian mission on the Old Mission Peninsula, William Montague Ferry's Presbyterian-affiliated 1825 Mission House / Mission Church on Mackinac Island, Magdelaine Laframboise and Samuel Charles Mazzuchelli's Catholic Sainte Anne Church on Mackinac Island in 1830, Frederic Baraga Francis Xavier Pierz and Ignatius Mrak's Catholic mission to the people of the Chippewa and Ottawa at L'Arbre Croche and Peshawbestown (on the Leelanau Peninsula), Peter Greensky's Methodist Greensky Hill church founded near the Little Traverse Bay in 1844, and an 1848 congregationalist mission founded by Chief Peter Waukazoo and Reverend George Smith in Northport (on the Leelanau Peninsula). The Strangite Mormon community move to Beaver Island in 1848 brought additional conflicts as the Mormon leaders sought to enforce laws and restrict use of alcohol on the Beaver Archipelago.

Fishing settlements

Key fishing settlements included "Fishtown" in Leland, Michigan, and the Beaver Island Archipelago.

Lighthouses

Early Northern Michigan lighthouses included Thunder Bay Island Light (1831), Old Presque Isle Light (1840), South Manitou Island Lighthouse (1840), DeTour Reef Light (1847), Waugoshance Light (1851), Grand Traverse Light (1852), Tawas Point Light (1853), Beaver Island Harbor Light (1856), Beaver Island Head Light (1858), and Point Betsie Light (1858).

While the United States Lifesaving Service did not establish a system of Great Lakes Lifeboat stations on the Great Lakes until the 1870s, some volunteer stations, such as the North Manitou Island Lifesaving Station were created as early as 1854.

Tension between White settlement and Native American land claims

In the 1836 Treaty of Washington, Michigan tribes ceded claims to land in Northern Michigan—and opened it to settlement. In the 1840s, Odawa villages lined the Lake Michigan shore, especially from present-day Harbor Springs to Cross Village. The area on the tip of the peninsula was mostly reserved for native tribes by treaty provisions with the U.S. federal government until 1875. Early government had been centered around Mackinac Island and St. Ignace, but between 1840 and 1853, the state broke up this single large Michilimackinac County and established names and boundaries of about 21 counties across Northern Michigan. This naming and surveying allowed specific platted lands to be sold at the Land Office. Increased white immigration and homesteading in Northern Michigan brought difficulties in dispatching of Native American land claims stemming from the treaty of 1836. Bands of Chippewa and Odawa Indians sought redress through the Treaty of 1855; by this 1855 treaty agreement, lands and payments would be set aside for individual Native American families related to the 1836 treaty, but after this treaty, the US would cease to owe anything ("land, money or other thing guaranteed to them") to Indians or their tribes.

1860s to 1890s: Homestead Act settlements and industrial developments

Increased settlement and establishment of port cities

Now that the land was surveyed and outstanding native land claims eliminated, Northern Michigan settlement increased even further. The Homestead Act of 1862 brought many Civil War veterans and speculators to Northern Michigan, by making 160 acre tracts of land available for $1.25 an acre. The cutting of wood for passing ships morphed into a full-fledged lumber industry, contributing to the rise of port cities like Manistee, Traverse City, Charlevoix, and Ludington.

1870s: Arrival of rail infrastructure, rampant lumbering and fishing, and economic slowdown

Starting in the 1870s, railroads were built connecting Northern Michigan to larger industrial areas to the south. The Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad reached Traverse City in December 1872 (via Walton Junction and Traverse City Rail Road Company) and reached Petoskey (known up to that point as "Bear River") in 1873. The Flint and Pere Marquette Railroad completed its terminal at Ludington in 1874. While the Michigan Central Railroad reached Otsego County in the fall of 1872, rail investments slowed for several years due to the financial panic of 1873 and the ensuing five year economic slowdown. Cheboygan and Mackinaw City did not have rail service until the early 1880s.

Despite setbacks from the Great Michigan Fire in 1871 in Manistee and other lumbering ports, lumbering in Northern Michigan greatly increased. New mechanical tools such as steam-powered (versus water-powered) sawmills and circular saws expanded the ability to process high volumes of lumber quickly. Narrow-gauge moveable rails made it possible to harvest timber year-round, in previously inaccessible places away from rivers. The Michigan lumber market experienced a crash in July 1877 that coincided with the Great Railroad Strike of 1877. By 1880 the Great Lakes region would dominate logging, with Michigan producing more lumber than any other state.

The commercial fishing industry also flourished in the 1880s. By 1881, the rich fishing areas around the Beaver Archipelago led to Beaver Island becoming the largest supplier of fresh-water fish in the United States. By 1886, there was a drastic reduction in the amount of fishing produced, due to overfishing. In 1893, the Michigan Fish Commission commissioned the University of Nebraska Zoologist Henry Ward to study the sources of food for Traverse Bay area fish.

The passenger pigeon was hunted in Northern Michigan as a source of food, but by the 1870s, a combination of increased population and economic scarcity led to over-hunting and eventual extinction. The massive flocks of passenger pigeons stopped darkening the skies of Northern Michigan, especially after the last large scale nestings and subsequent slaughters of millions of birds in 1874 and 1878. By this time, large nestings only took place in the north, around the Great Lakes. The last large nesting was in Petoskey, Michigan, in 1878 (following one in Pennsylvania a few days earlier), where 50,000 birds were killed each day for nearly five months. The surviving adults attempted a second nesting at new sites, but were killed by professional hunters before they had a chance to raise any young. Scattered nestings were reported into the 1880s, but the birds were now weary, and commonly abandoned their nests if persecuted.

1880s: Emergence of resort and vacation industry

Rail connections to the large midwestern cities through rail centers like Kalamazoo led to settlers immigrating and wealthy resorters establishing summer home associations in Bay View Association near Petoskey, the Belvedere Club in Charlevoix, and other lakeside getaways. Starting in 1875 (until 1895) the 1,044-acre (422 ha) Mackinac National Park became the second National Park in the United States after Yellowstone National Park in the Rocky Mountains.

Sport fishing

Sport fishing along the Au Sable River became a tourist attraction for wealthy sportsmen from Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Buffalo, Toledo, Indianapolis, and Chicago. After the Jackson, Lansing and Saginaw Railroad reached Grayling in the late 1870s, it began to advertise hunting and fishing trips in Crawford County, home of the arctic grayling. In the same way, the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railway published a "Guide to the Health, Pleasure, Game and Fishing Resorts of Northern Michigan reached by the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad" in 1882. In 1880, Ansel Judd Northrup, a lawyer from New York, published a detailed account of his train trip to fish Northern Michigan, and he assessed the Au Sable, Manistee River, Cheboygan River, Pigeon River, and Jordan River for trout and grayling fishing. The state of Michigan, having created a Board of Fish Commissioners in 1873, stocked rivers with whitefish, black bass, and non-native species such as California salmon, California trout, German carp, and brook trout. The Board of Fish Commissioners created its first fish hatchery at Crystal Springs Creek in Pokagon and shipped rail cars full of small fish to streams across Michigan. As the grayling vanished from the Au Sable, Manistee and other rivers, the state propped up the Northern Michigan fishing industry with non-native brook trout, brown trout, and rainbow trout (steelhead). Ultimately, the Arctic grayling that had inhabited much of Northern Michigan was eventually wiped out. The logging practice of using river beds to move logs in the springtime destroyed the breeding grounds for these fish. Before they could recover, non-native sport fish such as brook trout took over the grayling's habitat and made them disappear from northern Michigan.

Industrial growth and diversification

The effect of rail connections was ultimately transformative; timber and other goods could be produced in the north and shipped to urban markets to the south. Diverse industries developed, such as iron works, tanneries, mills, cement plants, and agricultural enterprises. By 1885, the intense harvesting and export of pine trees led to visible decline in the lumber industry's ability to produce white pine. Logging in Michigan peaked in 1889. Where available, hardwoods and hemlock were harvested, temporarily extending the life of lumbering in the area, especially around East Jordan, the Traverse Bay, and near Crawford County. William Howard White's lumber railroad (Boyne City, Gaylord & Alpena Railroad Company), David Ward's Detroit and Charlevoix Railroad, and the East Jordan and Southern Railroad enabled access to remote timber areas. As lumbering declined, rail lines began to promote Northern Michigan as a "fresh air" resort destination, and the logging companies promoted their cut-over, stump-filled tracts for their agricultural potential.

20th century: resort era

Early resorts

The resort era flourished in lakeside areas of Northern Michigan even as the fishing and lumbering industries experienced slow decline. Historian Bruce Catton's memoir Waiting for the Morning Train (1972) documents his personal experiences of early 20th-century life in a small Northern Michigan town as Michigan's logging era was ending. Ernest Hemingway also documented turn-of-the-century life in Northern Michigan through his "Nick Adams" stories; Hemingway's own parents were resorters, wintering in Oak Park, Illinois, but summering in the Windemere cottage on Walloon Lake starting in 1899.

State parks

As lumbering died down, many parts of Northern Michigan returned to their forested state through conservation efforts. The Huron National Forest was set aside in 1909. and the Manistee National Forest was set aside in 1938. State parks were established as well, to include:

• Interlochen State Park (1917)
• Mitchell State Park (1919)
• Burt Lake State Park (1920)
• Traverse City State Park (1920)
• Orchard Beach State Park (1921)
• Harrisville State Park (1921)
• Hoeft State Park (1922)
• Aloha State Park (1923)
• Straits State Park (1924)
• South Higgins Lake State Park (1927)
• Hartwick Pines State Park (1927)
• Wilderness State Park (1928)
• Cheboygan State Park (1962)
• Negwegon State Park (1962)
• Leelanau State Park (1964)
• North Higgins Lake State Park (1965)
• Clear Lake State Park (1966)
• Tawas Point State Park (1966)
• Petoskey State Park (1970)
• Fisherman's Island State Park (1975)
• Thompson's Harbor State Park (1988)
• Rockport State Park (2012)

Ski resorts

Hanson Hills in Grayling was the first downhill ski area in Michigan. It opened in 1929 and was served by rail service.Caberfae Peaks Ski & Golf Resort near Cadillac opened in 1938 and was served by rail service. Boyne Mountain Resort opened in 1948. Crystal Mountain in Benzie County opened in 1956. Nub's Nob opened in 1958 near Harbor Springs.

Decline of rail

As passenger railroad usage ended in the 1960s (due in part to increased automobile travel), aggressive promotion of Northern Michigan by local chambers of commerce led to many of the festivals and attractions that bring visitors north even today.

Geography

See also: Protected areas of Michigan and Michigan § Geography

Residents of Northern Michigan usually think of the area as lying between Grayling and the Mackinac Bridge. The exact southern border of this region is not clearly defined. Some people in southern Michigan say it starts just north of Flint, Port Huron, Grand Rapids, or Mount Pleasant, but people in Northern Michigan call those areas Mid Michigan. Others might say it begins north of Bay City and Clare, using US Highway 10 as a guide.

The 45th parallel runs through Northern Michigan. Signs marking this line can be found at places like Mission Point Light near Traverse City, Suttons Bay, and Alpena, among others.

Northern Michigan is different from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, which is further north. Even though it is the northernmost part of Michigan, the Upper Peninsula is usually thought of as its own region. The two areas are connected by the Mackinac Bridge.

The landscape of Northern Michigan has rolling hills, shores along the Great Lakes, big inland lakes, rivers, and forests. The weather there can be very different through the seasons, from warm summers to very cold winters, with lots of snow in some areas. The region has many trees and plants that change with the seasons, making it a beautiful place to visit, especially in the fall.

The northernmost 21 counties in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan have a population of 506,658 people. The biggest city is Traverse City, with over 15,000 residents. People from many different places live there, including New England, Ireland, Germany, and Poland. There are also Native American communities in the area.

Counties

Northern Michigan includes 21 counties. These counties are traditionally thought of as part of this area.

There are also six additional counties to the south that are sometimes called part of Northern Michigan, but they are usually grouped with other regions.

Cities, villages, and unincorporated communities

This section lists many places in northern Michigan where people live.

The places include:

• Acme
• Afton
• Albert
• Albert
• Aloha
• Alpena
• Arlene
• Atlanta
• Au Gres
• Barton City
• Bates
• Beaver Island
• Beaverton
• Bear Lake
• Belknap
• Benzonia
• Beulah
• Black River
• Boon
• Boyne City
• Boyne Falls
• Briley
• Brookside
• Buckley
• Cadillac
• Cedar
• Central Lake
• Charlevoix
• Cheboygan
• Custer
• Denton
• East Jordan
• East Tawas
• Elberta
• Elk Rapids
• Empire
• Fairview
• Falmouth
• Fife Lake
• Fountain
• Frankfort
• Free Soil, Michigan
• Gaylord
• Gladwin
• Glennie
• Glen Arbor
• Glen Haven
• Goodar
• Good Harbor
• Grawn
• Grayling
• Greenbush
• Greilickville
• Gustin
• Hale
• Hannah
• Harbor Springs
• Harrietta
• Harrisville
• Hawks
• Herron
• Higgins Lake
• Hillman
• Honor
• Houghton Lake
• Hubbard Lake
• Indian River
• Interlochen
• Kalkaska
• Kaleva
• Karlin
• Kingsley
• Lachine
• Lake Ann
• Lake City
• Lake Leelanau
• Leland
• Lewiston
• Lincoln
• Long Rapids
• Lost Lake Woods
• Ludington
• Lupton
• Mackinac Island
• Mackinaw City
• Manistee
• Manton
• Mapleton
• Maple City
• Maple Ridge
• Mayfield
• McBain
• Mesick
• Metz
• Millersburg
• Mikado
• Mio
• Moltke
• Monroe Center
• Mullett Lake
• National City
• Northport
• Ocqueoc
• Ogdensburg
• Old Mission
• Omena
• Omer
• Onaway
• Onekama
• Oscoda
• Ossineke
• Palaestrum
• Pellston
• Petoskey
• Posen
• Prescott
• Presque Isle
• Prudenville
• Rapid City
• Richfield
• Rogers City
• Roscommon
• Rose City
• Rust
• St. Helen
• Scottville
• South Boardman
• South Branch
• Spruce
• Standish
• Sterling
• Summit City
• Tawas City
• Thompsonville
• Topinabee
• Tower
• Traverse City
• Turner
• Twining
• Vanderbilt
• Walhalla
• Walton
• West Branch
• Whittemore
• Wilber
• Williamsburg
• Wolverine
• Yuba

Indian reservations

There are several areas in northern Michigan where different groups of Native American people have lived for many years.

These include:

• Burt Lake Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians
• Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians
• Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians which includes parts of Petoskey and several townships
• Mackinac Bands of Chippewa and Ottawa Indians

Flora and fauna

Northern Michigan has many types of trees, such as maple, birch, oak, ash, white cedar, aspen, pine, and beech. In open fields and along roadsides, you can find ferns, milkweed, Queen Anne's lace, and chicory. Forest plants include wild leeks, morel mushrooms, and trilliums. Marram grass grows on beaches, and mosses cover the land.

Common animals in Northern Michigan include white-tailed deer, foxes, raccoons, porcupines, rabbits, black bears, elk, coyotes, bobcats, wolves, and mountain lions. Fish found here include whitefish, yellow perch, trout, bass, northern pike, walleye, muskie, and sunfish. Birds such as ducks, seagulls, wild turkey, great blue herons, northern cardinals, blue jays, black-capped chickadees, hummingbirds, and Canada geese are also common. The Au Sable State Forest helps protect wildlife, including the Kirtland's warbler, and is known for its controlled burns to keep the habitat healthy.

Insects like ladybugs, crickets, dragonflies, mosquitoes, ants, house flies, grasshoppers, and butterflies live in Northern Michigan. The region is also home to the Hungerford's crawling water beetle, one of the world's most endangered species, found mainly in a small area along the East Branch of the Maple River.

The state forests in Michigan, managed by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, cover a large area. The Northern lower peninsula includes three main forests: Mackinaw State Forest, Pere Marquette State Forest, and Au Sable State Forest. These forests include many different areas and help protect many plants and animals. The Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness, located near Lake Michigan, features sandy dunes, small water holes, and marshes, making it a special place for nature lovers.

Tourism

Boating, golf, and camping are popular activities in Northern Michigan. People also enjoy sailing, kayaking, canoeing, birdwatching, biking, horseback riding, motorcycling, and off-road driving. Many state parks and protected areas, such as the Huron National Forest and the Manistee National Forest, offer many outdoor fun options.

Many people from cities and nearby places, including Chicago, have summer homes in Northern Michigan. Popular tourist towns include Northport, Traverse City, Elk Rapids, Charlevoix, Boyne City, Petoskey, Manistee, Ludington, Bear Lake, Empire, Frankfort, Harbor Springs, and Leland. The area also has a large wine district along the Lake Michigan Shore.

At the top of the lower peninsula are Mackinaw City and Mackinac Island, which lies between the Lower and Upper Peninsulas in the Straits of Mackinac. The northeastern lower peninsula along the Lake Huron shore has many vacation spots, including Standish, Omer, Au Gres, Tawas City, East Tawas, Oscoda, Greenbush, Harrisville, Alpena, Presque Isle, Rogers City, Cheboygan, and others. These places are often considered more peaceful than the west coast.

Inland cities and lakes, such as Cadillac, Kalkaska, Grayling, West Branch, and Gaylord, are also popular summer destinations. Large inland lakes like Houghton Lake, Higgins Lake, Torch Lake, and Hubbard Lake attract many visitors.

The Michigan Shore to Shore Riding & Hiking Trail runs from Empire to Oscoda, covering 240 miles (390 km). The Great Lakes Circle Tour is a scenic road system connecting all of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River.

Non-summer activities include downhill and Nordic skiing at resorts like Boyne Mountain, Boyne Highlands, Otsego Club & Resort, Crystal Mountain Resort, Snow Snake Ski and Golf, Nub's Nob, Caberfae Peaks, and Schuss Mountain. Some of these also offer golf in the summer. Frederic, Michigan is known for cross-country skiing.

Fall brings harvest festivals, beer and wine events, and color tours. Hunting is popular in the fall, especially deer season, which starts on November 15.

Winter sports include snowmobiling and ice fishing. Tip-up Town on Houghton Lake is a special festival held on the frozen lake. Higgins Lake offers ice fishing and trails for snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing. Grayling and Gaylord are known for Nordic skiing, while Cadillac is especially popular in winter.

Other attractions include the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive, Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, the Mackinac Bridge, Boyne Mountain, and Fort Michilimackinac. Many State Parks are also popular.

The Lumberman's Monument honors lumberjacks and is located on the River Road National Scenic Byway near the Au Sable River. Hartwick Pines State Park near Grayling preserves old-growth forests of white and red pines. Interlochen State Park is the oldest state park and home to one of the last stands of virgin Eastern White Pine in the Lower Peninsula.

The Besser Museum for Northeast Michigan in Alpena showcases the history and culture of Northern Michigan and the Great Lakes. It includes a small planetarium.

Northern Michigan has many lighthouses, which are important for safety and also part of the region's history. See the list of Michigan lighthouses for more details.

Annual festivals take place throughout Northern Michigan.

Economy

See also: Michigan § Economy

The economy of Northern Michigan is smaller because there are fewer people and industries compared to southern Michigan. Jobs in tourism and seasonal work are important, but unemployment rates tend to be higher. In the past, the fur trade, logging, and fishing were big industries. Today, logging is still important but not as much as it used to be, and fishing is a smaller part of the economy.

Northern Michigan is a popular place for visitors, and real estate like vacation homes brings in more money. The area's economy depends on people from southern Michigan and the Chicago area, so it can struggle when industries like automobiles have tough times.

Farming is limited by the climate and soil, but there are potato and bean farms in the east, and grapes, vegetables, and cherries grow well in the west near Grand Traverse Bay. This area is known for its wine and is one of the most endangered farm areas in the U.S. because people want to build vacation homes there.

There isn’t much heavy industry, but the northeast corner has some factories. The area is known for mining limestone and gypsum, used to make cement. There are also natural gas reserves, and some companies drill for oil deep underground. A few manufacturing plants operate in places like Alpena, Cadillac, and Manistee.

Some people work on ships on the Great Lakes, and there is a Coast Guard air station near Traverse City that helps with search and rescue.

Northern Michigan has several military sites, including the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center, Camp Grayling — a large training area used by many branches of the military — and former air bases that are now used for other purposes. The Coast Guard also has offices in several towns.

Education

Northern Michigan has many places where young people can learn and grow. One special place is the Interlochen Center for the Arts, which offers a school for older students and fun summer camps near Traverse City.

The area also has several community colleges, such as North Central Michigan College, Alpena Community College, Kirtland Community College, West Shore Community College, and Northwestern Michigan College. Northwestern Michigan College even has a special school called the Great Lakes Maritime Academy, which is the only one of its kind in the United States that focuses on freshwater.

There is also one main university in Northern Michigan, Ferris State University in Big Rapids. Other universities are a bit farther away, but students can still study there through special programs at Northwestern Michigan College in Traverse City. This helps students get degrees without having to travel far from home.

Media

Northern Michigan is part of several media areas. You can find many newspapers, magazines, radio stations, and television channels there.

Newspapers

Many newspapers serve the area, including:

• Alcona County Review, Harrisville
• The Alpena News
• Boyne City Gazette
• Cadillac Evening News
• Charlevoix Courier
• Cheboygan Daily Tribune
• Citizen-Journal, Boyne City, East Jordan
• Crawford County Avalanche, Grayling
• Gaylord Herald Times
• Grand Traverse Herald, weekly in Traverse City
• Iosco County News-Herald, Tawas City
• The Leader and the Kalkaskian, Kalkaska
• Leelanau Enterprise, Leland
• Ludington Daily News
• Manistee Daily News Advocate
• Mears News, historical/defunct
• Midland Daily News
• Missaukee Sentinel (Lake City)
• Northern Express Weekly, weekly in Traverse City
• Onaway Outlook
• Oscoda Press
• Petoskey News-Review
• Presque Isle County Advance, Rogers City
• St. Ignace News, serving the Straits area
• The Town Meeting, Elk Rapids
• Traverse City Record-Eagle
• White Pine Press, Northwestern Michigan College

Daily editions of the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News are also available, along with The Grand Rapids Press in the west.

Magazines

• Traverse is published monthly and focuses on regional interests.

Radio

Many radio stations broadcast in Northern Michigan.

FM

AM

Broadcast television

Several television stations serve parts of Northern Michigan and nearby areas.

Transportation

Transportation by air

Airports in Northern Michigan include MBS International Airport near Freeland, Pellston Regional Airport, Traverse City Cherry Capital Airport, Manistee Blacker Airport, and Alpena County Regional Airport in the Lower peninsula. Depending on where you're going, Chippewa County International Airport in Sault Ste. Marie, in the eastern Upper peninsula, might also be useful. Grand Rapids and Bishop airport at Flint are also close to some parts of the region. The Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport now serves the public for small planes and private flights.

Transportation by water

Several ferries still operate in the region.

• The SS Badger carferry leaves from Ludington and goes to Wisconsin.
• Ferry service between Charlevoix and Beaver Island is provided by M/V Emerald Isle, and sometimes by the older M/V Beaver Islander.
• The Straits of Mackinac has lake ferries that take passengers to Mackinac Island from either Mackinaw City in the Lower Peninsula or St. Ignace in the Upper Peninsula.
• A ferry for tours of Charity Island in the middle of Saginaw Bay and the Charity Island Light (and even dinner cruises) are available. It leaves from Au Gres on the mainland, south of Tawas.
• The Kristen D is a ferry which operates between Cheboygan and Bois Blanc Island.

The largest bridge in Northern Michigan is the Mackinac Bridge connecting Northern Michigan to the Upper Peninsula. The second largest is the Zilwaukee Bridge.

Transportation by land

On land, Michigan can be tricky to travel. Drivers should remember that distances may seem shorter than they are. Michigan's total length is only 456 miles (734 km) and width 386 miles (621 km) – but because of the Great Lakes, you can't travel straight through them. The distance from northwest to southeast is 456 miles (734 km) "as the crow flies". However, travelers must go around the Great Lakes. For example, traveling to the Upper Peninsula, it is about 300 miles (480 km) from Detroit to the Mackinac Bridge, but it is another 300 miles (480 km) from St. Ignace to Ironwood.

Direct routes are not many between Interstate 75 (I-75) and M-115, but most roads run either east–west or north–south.

Transit

• Bay Area Transportation Authority
• Indian Trails

Automobile roads

The main way people get around in Northern Michigan is by car.^{[citation needed]} The area has one Interstate, and many U.S. Highways and Michigan state trunklines.

• I-75 runs northwest–southeast through the region between the Flint/Tri-Cities area and Mackinac Bridge at Mackinaw City, which leads to the Upper Peninsula.
• US 10 enters Michigan after it crosses Lake Michigan from Manitowoc to Ludington. US 10 runs from Ludington through Baldwin and Reed City before it becomes a freeway west of US 127 near the junction with M-115. US 10 bypasses Midland and ends at I-75 in Bay City.
• US 23 runs north for about 200 miles (320 km) along (or close to) the Lake Huron shore from the Flint/Tri-Cities area.
• US 31 mainly follows the Lake Michigan shore from the Ludington area north to Mackinaw City; near Traverse City, the highway cuts across the base of the Leelanau Peninsula.
• US 127 ends at Grayling, connecting Northern Michigan with places to the south
• US 131 is a main north–south highway that is a freeway from Manton southwards; north of the freeway end, the highway is mostly two lanes, connecting Kalkaska, Mancelona, and ending at US 31 in Petoskey.
• M-18 runs between Midland County, through Prudenville and Roscommon to M-72 in Crawford County.
• M-22 follows the Lake Michigan shore from Traverse City to Manistee and is a scenic drive along the Leelanau Peninsula and the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
• M-27 runs along the old route of US 27 between Indian River and Cheboygan.
• M-32 runs between East Jordan and Alpena.
• M-33 runs between Alger (northwest of Standish) and Cheboygan.
• M-37 runs from Battle Creek via Grand Rapids to Traverse City and the Old Mission Peninsula.
• M-42 is a short route between Manton and M-66 north of Lake City.
• M-55 is a 150-mile (240 km) highway at the southern edge of the region from Manistee to Tawas City.
• M-65 runs north from Au Gres (just north of Standish) to Rogers City.
• M-66 goes almost the full north–south distance of the Lower Peninsula ending at Charlevoix.
• M-68 is an east–west state highway that runs from Alanson to Rogers City; it passes through Indian River, Afton, Tower, and Onaway.
• M-72 crosses the Lower Peninsula from Empire via Traverse City to Harrisville.
• M-75 is a connector between US-131 and Boyne City, and, even though it's close to the highway, it is not related to I-75.
• M-88 goes through Antrim County from Eastport to Mancelona via several small towns.
• M-93 is a short highway connecting Camp Grayling, Hartwick Pines, and the city of Grayling in Crawford County.
• M-109 is a scenic loop off M-22 in the Sleeping Bear Dunes.
• M-113 runs across southern Grand Traverse County connecting M-37, US-131, and the village of Kingsley.
• M-115 is a "diagonal highway", going generally northwest–southeast from Clare to Frankfort.
• M-119 branches off US-31 near Petoskey through Harbor Springs and along the Lake Michigan Coast as the Tunnel of Trees.
• M-137 is a short highway running from US-31 to Interlochen Center for the Arts. The highway has become popular among students.
• M-204 cuts across Leelanau County from Leland to Suttons Bay.
• M-212 is the shortest signed highway in the state, connecting Aloha State Park to M-33 south of Cheboygan.

Past railroads

The Northern Lower Peninsula had many railroads during the late 1800s and early 1900s. One of these lines was the Detroit, Bay City & Alpena Railroad, later known as the Detroit and Mackinac Railway. The railroad had a main line along the Lake Huron shore and branch lines to logging camps and gravel quarries. The railroad also partly owned the SS Chief Wawatam, a rail car ferry that crossed the Straits of Mackinac. Running down the center of the Northern Lower Peninsula was the Michigan Central Railroad, which connected Mackinaw City with Bay City, Detroit, Lansing, and beyond. This line later became the New York Central and was sold to the Detroit and Mackinac Railway in 1976. Several other railroads existed in Alpena's history.

On the west side of the peninsula, the Chicago and West Michigan Railway (later the Pere Marquette Railway) and several commercial cruise lines helped bring traffic to Northern Michigan destinations. The Pere Marquette Railway operated rail car ferries across Lake Michigan from Ludington. The most famous ferry is the SS Badger which is still used today for cars and passengers.

The Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad provided rail service between Cincinnati, Ohio, and Mackinaw City. It was later bought by the Pennsylvania Railroad. It served resort towns such as Traverse City, Petoskey, and Cadillac. In 1975 the line was bought by the Michigan Department of Transportation and the Michigan Northern Railway was hired to operate it. By 1984 much of the railroad was abandoned and operations were turned over to the Tuscola and Saginaw Bay Railway.

The Ann Arbor was a railroad stretching from Toledo, Ohio, to Elberta, Michigan, where it operated a rail car ferry until 1982. The ferry served the cities of Manitowoc, Wisconsin, Menominee, Michigan, and Manistique, Michigan. The Ann Arbor became part of Conrail and was later split between the Michigan Northern Railway and the Michigan Interstate Railway Company. The remaining parts of the line were taken over by the state-owned lines run by the Tuscola and Saginaw Bay Railway.

Present railroads

Today, Northern Michigan's railroad system is much smaller than it used to be. After the Chief Wawatam stopped in 1984, rail lines serving the Straits of Mackinac were soon abandoned. In the past, four different railroads served Mackinaw City and St. Ignace, but now there are none.

The rest of the former Detroit and Mackinac Railway is now the Lake State Railway. It runs a line from Bay City to Pinconning where it then splits northeast to Alpena and northwest to Gaylord.

Parts of the former Pere Marquette Railway, Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad, and the Ann Arbor Railroad became the Tuscola and Saginaw Bay Railway. The main line of this railway runs from Ann Arbor north to Petoskey, with branch lines to Yuma and Traverse City. The railroad was renamed the Great Lakes Central Railroad. There have been talks about bringing back passenger service on this line.^{[citation needed]}