Leelanau Peninsula
Encyclopedia
Peninsula
A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....
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"....
that extends about 30 miles (48.3 km) from the Lower Peninsula of Michigan
Lower Peninsula of Michigan
The Lower Peninsula of Michigan is the southern of the two major landmasses of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is surrounded by water on all sides except its southern border, which it shares with Ohio and Indiana. Geographically, the Lower Peninsula has a recognizable shape that many people...
into Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
. Leelanau County
Leelanau County, Michigan
-History:The county's name is said to be a Native American word meaning "delight of life", but it is a neologism made up by Indian agent and ethnographer Henry Schoolcraft, who sometimes gave the name "Leelinau" to Native American women in his tales. He created many faux Indian place names in...
encompasses the entire peninsula
Peninsula
A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....
. It is often referred to as the "little finger" of the mitten-shaped lower peninsula.
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is a United States National Lakeshore located along the northwest coast of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan in Leelanau County and Benzie County....
is located on the west side of the peninsula. Leelanau State Park
Leelanau State Park
Leelanau State Park is a state park located on the Leelanau Peninsula in Leelanau County, Michigan. The park encompasses the entire tip of the peninsula and features both a day-use area and campground....
and the Grand Traverse Light are located at the northern tip. Grand Traverse Bay
Grand Traverse Bay
Grand Traverse Bay is a bay of Lake Michigan formed by part of Northern Michigan. The bay is long, 10 miles wide, and up to deep in spots. It is divided into two arms by the Old Mission Peninsula...
is on the east side and Traverse City
Traverse City, Michigan
Traverse City is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Grand Traverse County, although a small portion extends into Leelanau County. It is the largest city in the 21-county Northern Michigan region. The population was 14,674 at the 2010 census, with 143,372 in the Traverse...
is located at the base of the peninsula on the east side. The Manitou Islands are located to the northwest of it. Lake Leelanau
Lake Leelanau
Lake Leelanau lies in the Leelanau Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The entire lake -- which includes two bodies of water, usually referred to as North Lake Leelanau and South Lake Leelanau -- covers about and lies within Leelanau County...
is run 13 miles (21 km) through the middle of the peninsula and covers 8700 acres (35.2 km²).
The steep terrain and large bodies of water produce a milder microclimate
Microclimate
A microclimate is a local atmospheric zone where the climate differs from the surrounding area. The term may refer to areas as small as a few square feet or as large as many square miles...
than the more temperate
Temperate
In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally relatively moderate, rather than extreme hot or cold...
areas further inland. The Leelanau Peninsula AVA
Leelanau Peninsula AVA
The Leelanau Peninsula AVA is an American Viticultural Area located in Leelanau County, Michigan.This Michigan wine region includes all of Leelanau County, which forms a peninsula between Lake Michigan on the west and Grand Traverse Bay on the east. Being surrounded by water helps to moderate the...
is known as one of the best Michigan wine
Michigan wine
Michigan wine refers to any wine that is made in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of 2007, there were under wine-grape cultivation and 64 commercial wineries in Michigan, producing 425,000 cases of wine . According to another count there were 112 operating wineries in Michigan in 2007.Wine and...
regions and is an American Viticultural Area
American Viticultural Area
An American Viticultural Area is a designated wine grape-growing region in the United States distinguishable by geographic features, with boundaries defined by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau , United States Department of the Treasury....
(AVA). The peninsula is also a productive fruit region growing apple
Apple
The apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose family . It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits, and the most widely known of the many members of genus Malus that are used by humans. Apple grow on small, deciduous trees that blossom in the spring...
s and tart cherries
Cherry
The cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus Prunus, and is a fleshy stone fruit. The cherry fruits of commerce are usually obtained from a limited number of species, including especially cultivars of the wild cherry, Prunus avium....
.
The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa & Chippewa are a group of Native Americans who live on the peninsula around Peshawbestown.
Communities on the peninsula include:
- Northport Point, MichiganNorthport pointNorthport Point is an unincorporated community in Leelanau County, Michigan. Located at the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula and was developed over 100 years ago as a recreational and vacation destination. Founded in 1899, Northport Point became a permanent summer mecca for many big-city families from...
- Northport, MichiganNorthport, MichiganNorthport is a village in Leelanau Township, Leelanau County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 648 at the 2000 census. When Leelanau County was formed in 1863, Northport served as the first county seat from 1863 to 1883.-Geography:...
- Omena, MichiganOmena, MichiganOmena is a small unincorporated community in Leelanau Township of Leelanau County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Overlooking Omena Bay, on the western side of Grand Traverse Bay, Omena is home to wineries and farms including a thriving organic farming movement that includes cherries and...
- Leland, MichiganLeland, MichiganLeland is an unincorporated community in the U.S. state of Michigan. It was the county seat of Leelanau County from 1883 to 2008, when a new government center was completed in Suttons Bay Township, closer to the county's geographic center....
- Peshawbestown, MichiganPeshawbestown, MichiganPeshawbestown is an unincorporated community in Suttons Bay Township of Leelanau in the U.S. state of Michigan. In historical documents, the name is spelled variously as Peshabetown, Peshabatown, Pshawbatown, Preshabestown....
- Suttons Bay, MichiganSuttons Bay, MichiganSuttons Bay is a village in Leelanau County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 589 at the 2000 census. The village was incorporated in 1898 and is located within Suttons Bay Township....
- Lake Leelanau, MichiganLake Leelanau, MichiganLake Leelanau is an unincorporated community in Bingham Township, Leelanau County, Michigan, near the lake of the same name. It is situated along M-204 at the "narrows" that separate North & South Lake Leelanau.-History:...
- Glen Arbor, Michigan
- Glen Haven, MichiganGlen Haven, MichiganGlenn Haven is a restored logging village on the shore of Lake Michigan on the Leelanau Peninsula within the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Attractions include the restored General Store and Blacksmith Shop. The unincorporated community is located in Glen Arbor Township.Also located in...
- Empire, MichiganEmpire, MichiganEmpire is a village in Leelanau County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 378 at the 2000 census. The village is located within Empire Township.-Description:...
- Burdickville, Michigan
- Maple City, MichiganMaple City, MichiganMaple City is an unincorporated community of Kasson Township, Leelanau County, in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the population of Kasson Township, inclusive of Maple City, was 1,577. It is located at , between sections two and three of the township. The ZIP code is...
- Cedar, Michigan
History
Native Americans who first inhabited the area called this land "ke-ski-bi-ag," which means "narrow body of water," and called the lake itself "lee-lan-au," which means "delight of life."Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, an Indian agent for the territory, was credited with formally naming the county, and was said to use Leelinau as a character in his writing. See Leelanau County
Leelanau County, Michigan
-History:The county's name is said to be a Native American word meaning "delight of life", but it is a neologism made up by Indian agent and ethnographer Henry Schoolcraft, who sometimes gave the name "Leelinau" to Native American women in his tales. He created many faux Indian place names in...
for a more complete discussion of the etymology of the name.
Scholars have established, however, that Leelinau was first used as a pen name by Schoolcraft's wife Jane Johnston Schoolcraft
Jane Johnston Schoolcraft
Jane Johnston Schoolcraft, also known as Bamewawagezhikaquay is the first known American Indian literary writer. She was of Ojibwa and Scots-Irish ancestry...
, in writings for The Literary Voyager, a family magazine which she and her husband wrote together and circulated among friends in the 1820s. Jane Johnston was of Ojibwa (Chippewa) and Scots-Irish descent, and wrote in Ojibwe and English. While her writing was not published formally in her lifetime (except as Schoolcraft appropriated it under his own name), Jane Johnston Schoolcraft has been recognized as "the first Native American literary writer, the first known Indian woman writer, the first known Indian poet, the first known poet to write poems in a Native American language, and the first known American Indian to write out traditional Indian stories." In 2008 Jane Johnston Schoolcraft was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame.