NORTHERNMOST POINT OF LAKE MICHIGAN
The marker was dedicated on Saturday, October 2, 2021. Naubinway, an Ojibway word meaning “Place of Echoes,” saw its first white settler in 1843, when fur trader William Boucha (1826-1905) and his wife, Catherine, moved from Mackinac Island. William and Catherine built a home where the Marina currently sits. This is also the location of the new Northernmost Point marker.
Of the five Great Lakes, Michigan is the second largest in volume, behind Superior. The waterfront park where the marker sits is just a short detour off US-2. It will be a pleasant stop for travelers along the Top of the Lake Scenic Byway, which follows the shoreline between St. Ignace and Manistique.
This isn’t the only northernmost marker.
About a mile west of here is the northernmost point of Lake Michigan. This geographical location is of historical importance because the act of Congress which created the territory of Michigan in 1805 used it to mark the western boundary of this new frontier governmental unit. The boundary line ran up the middle of Lake Michigan “to its northern extremity, and thence due North to the northern boundary of the United States.”
West of this line the Upper Peninsula in 1805 was part of Indiana Territory. In 1818 Michigan’s boundary was pushed west to the Mississippi River. All of the U.P., along with what is now Wisconsin and part of Minnesota, came within the limits of the territory.
Support the Project!
By Check
Send a check made payable to
TOLCA
PO Box 132
Naubinway, MI 49762
By Digital Donation
We Appreciate Your Support!
This project has received major support in the form of grants from:
Wall of Donors
$500+
Cloverland Electric Cooperative
$100-$499
Rolleen & Dan Bodeis
John Case
Chamberlin’s Ole Forest Inn
GreatLakesGazette.com, Kath Usitalo
Becky Hanel & Patricia Lutosky
Deb & Bob Kleinbrook
Paige Kozak
Joy & Harley Morgan
Sam Reck, Hiawatha Pasties
Jodie Sampsell-York
Schoolcraft Memorial Hospital
Katherine Sirvio
Howard Soldan
Top of the Lake Snowmobile Museum
Marilyn & Charlie Vallier