Bear Lake, Michigan
Encyclopedia
Bear Lake is a village in Manistee County
of the U.S. state
of Michigan
. As of the 2000 census
, the village population was 318. The village is located within Bear Lake Township
.
, the village has a total area of 0.3 square mile (0.776996433 km²), of which, 0.3 square mile (0.776996433 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square mile (0.1035995244 km²) of it (6.06%) is water.
of 2000, there were 318 people, 132 households, and 85 families residing in the village. The population density
was 1,011.1 per square mile (396.1/km²). There were 161 housing units at an average density of 511.9 per square mile (200.5/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 93.71% White, 1.89% Native American, 2.52% Asian, 0.31% from other races
, and 1.57% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.72% of the population.
There were 132 households out of which 30.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.5% were married couples
living together, 8.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.6% were non-families. 32.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 2.99.
In the village the population was spread out with 26.4% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 25.2% from 25 to 44, 21.4% from 45 to 64, and 19.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 101.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.2 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $31,389, and the median income for a family was $35,139. Males had a median income of $30,000 versus $22,083 for females. The per capita income
for the village was $15,170. About 9.2% of families and 12.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.0% of those under age 18 and 8.3% of those age 65 or over.
The next year, in 1837, Michigan became a state.
In 1841, John Stronach and party came to the Manistee area and started a lumber mill. During the following twenty years, the City of Manistee grew as virgin forests were cut, and the logs put into the Manistee rivers to float to the mills on Manistee Lake.
, which offered 160 acre (0.6474976 km²) of undeveloped federal land to anyone who filed an application, create a farm, and apply for a deed. Almost immediately, people began exploring the area between Manistee and Traverse City, looking for prime farmland.
In 1863, Russell Smith, D.E. Sibley, Elisha Richmond, George W. Hopkins, Simeon Anderson, and others came to Bear Lake on such scouting expeditions. At the time, the region was entirely heavily forested with white pine and hardwoods, and with only a single walking trail. Smith and Sibley both moved their families to the area that year, and began their homesteads. Sibley's homestead was on the north side of Bear Lake; Smith's was on the south side, and included the present village.
By 1864, Simeon Anderson and about 25 other families had started homesteads in the Bear Lake area. In that year Elisha Richmond made his first failed attempt to move his large family to the area from Illinois.
In 1865, the township of Bear Lake , also including the area of Pleasanton, was created, formerly being part of Brown Township. A townsip council was formed.
By 1867, many more families had established homesteads, and two-thirds of the prime farming land had been claimed. A post office was established and the Elisha Richmond family completed the eleven week journey to Bear Lake. In this year, George W Hopkins, wife Emma Hopkins, brother David H Hopkins, and sister Mattie Hopkins arrived in Manistee to begin a brick manufacturing plant.
About this time, Russell Smith made an offer of some of his land to anyone who would set up a saw mill to turn the trees into lumber and a gristmill to created flour from grain. The offer was taken by Mr. Carpenter and Mr. Harrington and rudimentary mills for each were constructed. Carpenter and Harrington then subdivided the land, and offered it for sale. Stores were established by Anderson, Tillson, Erb, Lewis and A.H. Cook.
By 1870, the Hopkins family had switched from brick manufacturing to lumbermen, primarily putting logs in the Manistee rivers, and floating them to the mills for sale.
Homesteaders in Bear Lake were cutting the trees, and burning all the trees that they couldn't use, in order to clear the land. There was no one interested in buying the trees, and no way to get cut logs or lumber to market. Prior to the sawmill, boards were brought by boat from Manistee to Portage Lake and then carried, or carted, to Bear Lake.
In 1873, the Hopkins family company purchased 88 acres (356,123.7 m²) of the Smith property. The Bear Lake Tram Railway was built from the south side of Bear Lake down to Lake Michigan at Pierport. The railway was made of maple wood rails with steel straping, and house drawn trailers were built and put on the rails. This railway enabled the transport of lumber cut in the Bear Lake sawmill to be moved to Lake Michigan, and then sold to the various markets in Chicago and Milwaukee.
In 1874, the Hopkins built a large sawmill, a brickyard, a gristmill
, and a store.
, Ella Hopkins, David H. Hopkins, Maurice M. Hopkins, and Mattie E. "Martha" Hopkins. This plat was amended in 1877, including a slight change to the position of Stuart Street.
The village was platted with 299 lots, and included almost all of the land bordered by the lake on the north, Smith Street on the east, Potter Road on the South, and West Street (which originally ran due north from the current Potter Road - US-31 intersection) on the west. The south west corner of this rectangle was added to the village as the Hopkins Addition in 1881 with an 95 more lots. Most of the Hopkins Addition lots are now occupied by the school, and to the south of the school, owned by the village.
In 1879, prior to the Hopkins Addition, the Smith Addition, which was then owned by Harriet L. Smith, Elisha J. Richmond, and Clara Richmond, added 25 lots to the NE of the Smith Street - Main Street intersection.
(Six additional plats, the most recent in 1949, expanded the village to its current size, adding all the land between Smith Street and Russell Street. Numerous other plats around the lake created lots for lakeside homes and cottages.)
The 1880 census shows 1,258 people living in Bear Lake and Pleasanton townships, growing by 1890 to 1,880 people.
In the fall of 1893, the Village of Bear Lake was incorporated by action of the Board of Supervisors of Manistee County.
The 1900 census shows 2087 in the two townships, with 448 of them living in the village.
By 1902 June 9, all of the trees in the area had been cut. George W. Hopkins purchased over a hundred thousand acres in Florida (near Cape Canaveral) and he moved his business there, along with parts of the railway.
grant giving students and teachers use of modern technology such as laptops for use in the classroom. Teachers in this school are helping other teachers across the state with these learning tools.
The Bear Lake Schools district covers most of both Pleasanton Township
and Bear Lake Township
.
.
Bear Lake has oil and natural gas resources. Since the 1970s, various successful projects have produced significant quantities of both.
Manistee County, Michigan
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 24,527 people, 9,860 households, and 6,714 families residing in the county. The population density was 45 people per square mile . There were 14,272 housing units at an average density of 26 per square mile...
of the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. As of the 2000 census
United States Census, 2000
The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...
, the village population was 318. The village is located within Bear Lake Township
Bear Lake Township, Manistee County, Michigan
Bear Lake Township is a civil township of Manistee County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the township population was 1,587.The village of Bear Lake is located within the township.-Geography:...
.
Geography
According to the United States Census BureauUnited States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the village has a total area of 0.3 square mile (0.776996433 km²), of which, 0.3 square mile (0.776996433 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square mile (0.1035995244 km²) of it (6.06%) is water.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 318 people, 132 households, and 85 families residing in the village. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 1,011.1 per square mile (396.1/km²). There were 161 housing units at an average density of 511.9 per square mile (200.5/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 93.71% White, 1.89% Native American, 2.52% Asian, 0.31% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 1.57% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.72% of the population.
There were 132 households out of which 30.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.5% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 8.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.6% were non-families. 32.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 2.99.
In the village the population was spread out with 26.4% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 25.2% from 25 to 44, 21.4% from 45 to 64, and 19.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 101.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.2 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $31,389, and the median income for a family was $35,139. Males had a median income of $30,000 versus $22,083 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the village was $15,170. About 9.2% of families and 12.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.0% of those under age 18 and 8.3% of those age 65 or over.
History
In 1836, individuals from various tribes of native people signed the Treaty of Washington, which ceded the land of northwest lower peninsula to the United States. At the time, native people lived in the Bear Lake area, evidence remaining in various burial mounds of the region, including one at Pierport.The next year, in 1837, Michigan became a state.
In 1841, John Stronach and party came to the Manistee area and started a lumber mill. During the following twenty years, the City of Manistee grew as virgin forests were cut, and the logs put into the Manistee rivers to float to the mills on Manistee Lake.
Homesteading
On May 20, 1862, President Lincoln signed into law the Homestead ActHomestead Act
A homestead act is one of three United States federal laws that gave an applicant freehold title to an area called a "homestead" – typically 160 acres of undeveloped federal land west of the Mississippi River....
, which offered 160 acre (0.6474976 km²) of undeveloped federal land to anyone who filed an application, create a farm, and apply for a deed. Almost immediately, people began exploring the area between Manistee and Traverse City, looking for prime farmland.
In 1863, Russell Smith, D.E. Sibley, Elisha Richmond, George W. Hopkins, Simeon Anderson, and others came to Bear Lake on such scouting expeditions. At the time, the region was entirely heavily forested with white pine and hardwoods, and with only a single walking trail. Smith and Sibley both moved their families to the area that year, and began their homesteads. Sibley's homestead was on the north side of Bear Lake; Smith's was on the south side, and included the present village.
By 1864, Simeon Anderson and about 25 other families had started homesteads in the Bear Lake area. In that year Elisha Richmond made his first failed attempt to move his large family to the area from Illinois.
In 1865, the township of Bear Lake , also including the area of Pleasanton, was created, formerly being part of Brown Township. A townsip council was formed.
By 1867, many more families had established homesteads, and two-thirds of the prime farming land had been claimed. A post office was established and the Elisha Richmond family completed the eleven week journey to Bear Lake. In this year, George W Hopkins, wife Emma Hopkins, brother David H Hopkins, and sister Mattie Hopkins arrived in Manistee to begin a brick manufacturing plant.
About this time, Russell Smith made an offer of some of his land to anyone who would set up a saw mill to turn the trees into lumber and a gristmill to created flour from grain. The offer was taken by Mr. Carpenter and Mr. Harrington and rudimentary mills for each were constructed. Carpenter and Harrington then subdivided the land, and offered it for sale. Stores were established by Anderson, Tillson, Erb, Lewis and A.H. Cook.
By 1870, the Hopkins family had switched from brick manufacturing to lumbermen, primarily putting logs in the Manistee rivers, and floating them to the mills for sale.
Homesteaders in Bear Lake were cutting the trees, and burning all the trees that they couldn't use, in order to clear the land. There was no one interested in buying the trees, and no way to get cut logs or lumber to market. Prior to the sawmill, boards were brought by boat from Manistee to Portage Lake and then carried, or carted, to Bear Lake.
In 1873, the Hopkins family company purchased 88 acres (356,123.7 m²) of the Smith property. The Bear Lake Tram Railway was built from the south side of Bear Lake down to Lake Michigan at Pierport. The railway was made of maple wood rails with steel straping, and house drawn trailers were built and put on the rails. This railway enabled the transport of lumber cut in the Bear Lake sawmill to be moved to Lake Michigan, and then sold to the various markets in Chicago and Milwaukee.
In 1874, the Hopkins built a large sawmill, a brickyard, a gristmill
Gristmill
The terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...
, and a store.
Lumber Boom Years
On September 25, 1874, the original subdivision or plat map of the village was filed by the Hopkins family members including George W. HopkinsGeorge W. Hopkins
George W. Hopkins was a lumberman involved in the removal of tens of thousands of acres of virgin forests in Michigan and Florida.Hopkins was born in 1844 in Virginia. His father soon moved his family to Michigan in search of farm land. Hopkins became a surveyor and map maker at a young age, and...
, Ella Hopkins, David H. Hopkins, Maurice M. Hopkins, and Mattie E. "Martha" Hopkins. This plat was amended in 1877, including a slight change to the position of Stuart Street.
The village was platted with 299 lots, and included almost all of the land bordered by the lake on the north, Smith Street on the east, Potter Road on the South, and West Street (which originally ran due north from the current Potter Road - US-31 intersection) on the west. The south west corner of this rectangle was added to the village as the Hopkins Addition in 1881 with an 95 more lots. Most of the Hopkins Addition lots are now occupied by the school, and to the south of the school, owned by the village.
In 1879, prior to the Hopkins Addition, the Smith Addition, which was then owned by Harriet L. Smith, Elisha J. Richmond, and Clara Richmond, added 25 lots to the NE of the Smith Street - Main Street intersection.
(Six additional plats, the most recent in 1949, expanded the village to its current size, adding all the land between Smith Street and Russell Street. Numerous other plats around the lake created lots for lakeside homes and cottages.)
The 1880 census shows 1,258 people living in Bear Lake and Pleasanton townships, growing by 1890 to 1,880 people.
In the fall of 1893, the Village of Bear Lake was incorporated by action of the Board of Supervisors of Manistee County.
The 1900 census shows 2087 in the two townships, with 448 of them living in the village.
By 1902 June 9, all of the trees in the area had been cut. George W. Hopkins purchased over a hundred thousand acres in Florida (near Cape Canaveral) and he moved his business there, along with parts of the railway.
School System
Bear Lake currently has a K-12 public school . Bear Lake is one of the schools given the Freedom to LearnFreedom to Learn
Freedom to Learn is a statewide education program in Michigan helping schools create high performing, student-centered learning environments by providing each student and teacher with direct, consistent access to 21st century learning tools....
grant giving students and teachers use of modern technology such as laptops for use in the classroom. Teachers in this school are helping other teachers across the state with these learning tools.
The Bear Lake Schools district covers most of both Pleasanton Township
Pleasanton Township, Michigan
Pleasanton Township is a civil township of Manistee County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 817 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
and Bear Lake Township
Bear Lake Township, Manistee County, Michigan
Bear Lake Township is a civil township of Manistee County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the township population was 1,587.The village of Bear Lake is located within the township.-Geography:...
.
Business and industry
The Bear Lake area is the home to various business and industry; primarily agriculture focusing on fruit production, and tourism due to the lake and the adjacent Manistee National Forest and Pere Marquette State ForestPere Marquette State Forest
The Pere Marquette State Forest encompasses lands in Michigan’s northern Lower Peninsula, on the western side of the state. Counties within the Pere Marquette are: Leelanau, Benzie, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Mason, Lake, Osceola, Oceana, Newaygo and Mecosta.There are...
.
Bear Lake has oil and natural gas resources. Since the 1970s, various successful projects have produced significant quantities of both.
Points of interest
- Manistee National Forest
- Pere Marquette State ForestPere Marquette State ForestThe Pere Marquette State Forest encompasses lands in Michigan’s northern Lower Peninsula, on the western side of the state. Counties within the Pere Marquette are: Leelanau, Benzie, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Mason, Lake, Osceola, Oceana, Newaygo and Mecosta.There are...
- Northern Michigan Dragway
Further reading
- Clarke Historical Library, Central, Michigan University, Bibliography for Manistee County.
- Merriman, William. History of Bear Lake 1863-1950. Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University Term Paper, 1973.