South Manitou Island

South Manitou Island ( ) is located in Lake Michigan, approximately west of Leland, Michigan. It is part of Leelanau County and the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The uninhabited island is in land area and can be accessed by a ferry service from Leland. Guided tours on open-air vehicles are available to visitors, but most traffic is on foot. Larger North Manitou Island lies to its north.

The island is wide and long. It is part of an island chain that extends north to the Straits of Mackinac. The island consists of a ridge of tilted layers of limestone, buried under a blanket of glacial debris. Glaciers carved out the Lake Michigan basin. When the basin filled with water, the peaks of the ridge remained exposed as islands. During post-glacial times, winds blowing on the high, sandy bluffs on the west side of the island moved sand inland, forming sand dunes. Florence Lake is the island's only inland lake. The island has a system of trails and campsites.

A growth of Northern white cedars on the southwestern corner of the island are among the oldest and largest in the world. The largest is around and is estimated to be over 500 years old.

History

South Manitou Island was originally settled in the mid-1830s by William Burton to provide cord wood to fuel the Great Lakes steamships. His dock was built in the middle of the crescent-shaped bay on the eastern side of the island, which offered the only natural deep-water harbor between Chicago and Buffalo. In 1847, the village included Burton's Wharf, a house, blacksmith shop, grocery store, barn, and a wooden tamarack railroad track extending from the dock inland to haul wood for the steamers. When the first post office opened in 1870, it was located here. When logging operations ended and the dock fell into disrepair, the original island village dwindled in size and importance. Burdick's moved their general store from its original location near the old dock to a site near the Lifesaving station in 1923 on the southeastern shore, and that marked the shift of the island community to the current village site located at the present dock where the passenger ferry arrives.

Farming developed slowly on the island, but by 1870 most islanders were self-sufficient farmers. Surplus crops were sold to passing ships and mainland markets. The isolation of the island provided an ideal environment for growing prize-winning rye, beans and peas. Today, there are no active farms on the island; farm buildings, abandoned machinery, the old school and cemetery are reminders of the past. The island is now uninhabited, and most of its buildings lie in ruins. The 100 foot lighthouse was in operation from 1871 to 1958. The lighthouse is still in good condition. Recent efforts have restored its light tower to operational status for the summer months.

In 1901, the United States Life-Saving Service built a station on the island. The USLSS became part of the United States Coast Guard in 1915. The station was permanently closed in 1958. This station is now the island's ranger station and is not open to the public.

Shipwrecks

The Manitou islands are surrounded by over 50 known shipwreck sites, some of which are popular diving spots. A preserve was established in 1988 to conserve the historic and archeological value of the fifty known shipwreck sites, dating from 1835 to 1960.

References

South Manitou Island: Blocks 1180 and 1181, Census Tract 9704, Leelanau County, Michigan United States Census Bureau
Inventory of Maritime and Recreation Resources of the Manitou Passage Underwater Preserve, Kennth J. Vrana, Editor [No place] (Michigan State University: 1995)
Coming Through With Rye; An Historical Agricultural Landscape Study of South Manitou Island at Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore, Michigan, Brenda Wheeler Williams, Arnold R. Alanen, and William H. Tishler (National Park Service: Omaha, Neb.: 1996).

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