The 'Upper Peninsula of Michigan' is the northern of the two major land masses that comprise the
U.S. state of
Michigan. It is commonly referred to simply as the 'Upper Peninsula', 'the U.P.', or 'Upper Michigan', and more casually as the land "above the
Bridge". It is bounded on the north by
Lake Superior, on the east by
St. Mary's River, on the south by
Lake Michigan and
Lake Huron, and on the west by
Wisconsin.
The Upper Peninsula contains almost one-third of the land area of Michigan but just 3% of the total population. Residents are frequently called
Yoopers (derived from "U.P.-ers"), and have a strong regional identity. It includes the only counties in the
United States where a
plurality of residents state their
ancestry as
Finnish. The peninsula's largest cities are
Marquette,
Escanaba,
Sault Ste Marie,
Menominee, and
Iron Mountain. The land and climate are not very suitable for agriculture, although the economy has occasionally thrived from
logging and
mining. Most mines have closed since the "golden age" from 1890 to 1920, and the land is now heavily forested. Logging remains a major industry.
The Upper Peninsula is bordered by Northern Wisconsin, Lake Superior, Lake Huron and Lake Michigan
History
The first known inhabitants of the Upper Peninsula were tribes speaking
Algonquian languages. They arrived roughly around 800 AD and subsisted largely off of fishing. Early tribes included the Menominee, Nocquet,and the Mishinimaki.
Etienne Brulé of
France was probably the first European to visit the peninsula, crossing the
St. Marys River around 1620 in search of a route to the
Far East.
[1]
French colonists laid claim to the land in the
17th century, establishing missions and
fur trading posts such as
Sault Ste. Marie and
St. Ignace. Following the end of the
French and Indian War in 1763, the territory was ceded to
Great Britain.
Before long,
American Indian tribes who had been allies of the French found themselves increasingly dissatisfied with the British occupation, which brought new territorial policies. Whereas the French had long cultivated alliances among the Indians, the British post-war approach was essentially to treat the Indians as a conquered people. The resulting
Pontiac's Rebellion included the capture of
Fort Michilimackinac, near present-day
Mackinaw City, Michigan, which was then the principal fort of the British in the
Michilimackinac region.
Although the Upper Peninsula nominally became United States territory with the 1783
Treaty of Paris, the British did not give up control until 1797 under terms of the
Jay Treaty. As an American territory, the Upper Peninsula was still dominated by the fur trade.
John Jacob Astor founded the
American Fur Company on Mackinac Island in 1808; however, the industry began to decline in the 1830s.
[2]
When the
Michigan Territory was first established in 1805, it included only the Lower Peninsula and the eastern portion of the Upper Peninsula. In 1819 the territory was expanded to include the remainder of the Upper Peninsula, all of
Wisconsin, and part of
Minnesota (previously included in the
Indiana and
Illinois Territories). But when Michigan was preparing for statehood in the 1830s, the boundaries proposed corresponded to the original territorial boundaries, with some proposals even leaving the Upper Peninsula out entirely. Meanwhile, the territory was involved in a border dispute with the state of
Ohio in a conflict known as the
Toledo War. The people of Michigan approved a constitution in May 1835 and had elected state officials in late autumn 1835. Although the state government was unrecognized by the
United States Congress, the territorial government effectively ceased to exist. A constitutional convention of the state legislature refused a compromise to accept the full Upper Peninsula in exchange for ceding the
Toledo Strip to Ohio. A second convention, hastily convened by Governor
Stevens Thomson Mason, consisting primarily of Mason supporters, finally agreed to accept the U.P. in exchange for the Toledo Strip in December 1836.
In January 1837, the
U.S. Congress admitted Michigan as a state of the Union. At the time, Michigan was considered the losing party in the deal because the land in the Upper Peninsula seemed much less valuable than the land in the Toledo strip, and was described in a federal report of the time as a "sterile region on the shores of Lake Superior destined by soil and climate to remain forever a wilderness".
1
This feeling was reversed when rich mineral deposits (primarily
copper and iron) were discovered in the 1840s. Though not initially profitable, the Upper Peninsula's mines would eventually produce more mineral wealth than the
California Gold Rush, especially after shipping was simplified with the opening of the
Soo Locks in 1855 and docks in Marquette in 1859. The Upper Peninsula supplied 90% of America's copper by the 1860s. It would be the largest supplier of iron ore by the 1890s, though mining declined sharply after peaking in the 1920s. The last copper mine closed in 1995, although the majority of mines had closed decades before. Some iron mining continues near Marquette.
1
Thousands of Americans and immigrants moved to the area during the mining boom, prompting the federal government to create
Fort Wilkins near
Copper Harbor to maintain order. The first wave were the
Cornish, with centuries of mining experience, followed by Irish, Germans, and French Canadians. Finnish immigrants began settling there in large numbers during the 1890s. Even in the early 20th century, 75% of the population was foreign-born.
2
Geography
The Upper Peninsula contains 16,452 square miles (
42,610 km²), almost one-third of the land area of the state; it is about the size of
Denmark and is larger than
Maryland. The maximum east-west distance in the Upper Peninsula is about 320 miles (515 km), and the maximum north-south distance is about 125 miles (200 km). It is bounded on the north by
Lake Superior, on the east by
St. Mary's River, on the south by
Lake Michigan and
Lake Huron, and on the west by
Wisconsin and (counting the water border on Lake Superior) by Minnesota. It has about 1,700 miles (2,700 km) of continuous shoreline with the Great Lakes. There are about 4,300 inland lakes, the largest of which is
Lake Gogebic, and 12,000 miles (19,000 km) of streams.
[3]
The peninsula is divided between the flat, swampy areas in the east, part of the
Great Lakes Plain, and the steeper, more rugged western half, called the
Superior Upland, part of the
Canadian Shield.
[4] The rock in the western portion is the result of volcanic eruptions and is estimated to be at least 3.5 billion years old (well older than the eastern portion) and contains the region's ore resources. A considerable amount of
bedrock is visible.
Mount Arvon, the highest point in Michigan, is found in the region, as well as the
Porcupine and
Huron Mountains. All of the higher areas are the remnants of ancient peaks, worn down over millions of years by erosion and glaciers.
[5]
The
Keweenaw Peninsula is the northernmost part of the peninsula. It projects into Lake Superior and was the site of the first copper boom in the United States, part of a larger region of the peninsula called the
Copper Country.
[6]
About one third of the peninsula is government owned recreational forest land today, including the
Ottawa National Forest and
Hiawatha National Forest. Although heavily logged in the 19th century, the majority of the land was forested with mature trees by the 1970s.
1
Wildlife
The Upper Peninsula contains a large variety of wildlife. Some of the
mammals found in the UP include: Shrews, moles, rats, mice, white tailed deer, bears, rabbits, chipmunks, and squirrels. There is a large variety of
birds. Some of these birds are: Hawks, Ospery, gulls, chickedees, robins, woodpeckers and Bald Eagles. In terms of reptiles and amphibians, the UP has common garter snakes, red bellied snakes, pine snakes, northern water snakes, brown snakes, eastern garter snakes, eastern fox snakes, smooth green snakes, northern ringneck snakes, Eastern Milk snakes (Mackinac and Marquette counties) and Eastern Hognose snakes (Menominee County only), plus Snapping turtles, wood turtles, and painted turtles (the state reptile), green frogs, bull frogs northern leopard frogs, and salamanders. Lakes contain many fish.
Climate
The Upper Peninsula has an extreme temperate climate, and the Great Lakes have a huge impact on most of the peninsula. Winters tend to be long, cold, and snowy for most of the peninsula, and because of its northern latitude, the daylight hours are decreased—around 8 hours between sunrise and sunset in the winter. Lake Superior has the greatest effect on the area, especially the northern and western parts. Many areas get in excess of 100 inches (250 cm) of snow per year—especially in the
Keweenaw Peninsula and Baraga, Marquette and Alger counties. Records of 300 inches (760 cm) of snow or more have been set in many communities in this area.
The area along the Wisconsin border has a more continental climate since most of its weather does not come across the lakes. Summers tend to be warmer and winter nights much colder. Coastal communities have temperatures which are tempered by the Great Lakes. In summer, it might be 10 degrees Fahrenheit (5 °C) cooler at lakeside than it is inland, and the opposite effect is seen in winter.
Lake effect snow can cause blinding
whiteouts in just minutes, and some storms can last days. Snow has fallen as early as late September and as late as June.
Transportation
Straits of Mackinac and bridge in winter
The Upper Peninsula is separated from the Lower by the
Straits of Mackinac, five miles (8 km) across at the narrowest, and is connected to it by the
Mackinac Bridge at
St. Ignace, one of the longest
suspension bridges in the world. Until the bridge was completed in 1957, travel between the two peninsulas was difficult and slow (and sometimes even impossible during
winter months). Car
ferries ran between the two peninsulas, and at the busiest times of year the wait was several hours. In winter, travel was only possible over the ice after the straits had solidly frozen.
The bridge carries
Interstate 75, the only interstate in the Upper Peninsula. I-75's northern terminus is in
Sault Ste. Marie, where it becomes a 2-lane road to cross
Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge into Canada.
[7] US 2 runs from St. Ignace west into Wisconsin, and
US 41 enters at
Menominee and goes north to
Copper Harbor on the northern tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula.
[8]
There are six airports with commercial passenger service:
Gogebic-Iron County Airport north of
Ironwood,
Houghton County Memorial Airport northeast of
Hancock,
Ford Airport west of
Iron Mountain,
Sawyer International Airport south of
Marquette,
Delta County Airport in
Escanaba, and
Chippewa County International Airport south of
Sault Ste. Marie.
Time zones
Michigan counties observing Central Time
Like the entire
Lower Peninsula of Michigan, most of the Upper Peninsula observes
Eastern Time. However, like their neighbor, the four counties bordering Wisconsin are in the
Central Time zone.
In 1967, when the
Uniform Time Act came into effect, the Upper Peninsula went under year-round CST, with no
daylight saving time[9]. In 1973, the majority of the peninsula switched to EST.
[10] Only the four counties of
Gogebic,
Iron,
Dickinson, and
Menominee stayed in Central Time.
Economy
Industries
The Upper Peninsula is very rich in
mineral deposits including
iron,
copper,
nickel and
silver. Small amounts of
gold have also been discovered and mined. In the 19th century,
mining dominated the economy, and the U.P. became home to many isolated
company towns. For many years, mines in the
Keweenaw Peninsula were the world's largest producers of copper. The mines began declining as early as 1913, with most closing temporarily during the
great depression. Mines reopened during
World War II, but almost all quickly closed after the war ended. The last copper mine in the
Copper Country was the White Pine Mine, which closed in 1995.
Logging continues to be an important industry. Because of the highly seasonal
climate and the short growing season,
agriculture is limited in the Upper Peninsula, though
potatoes,
strawberries and a few other small fruits are grown.
Tourism is the main industry. The peninsula has large tracts of state and national forests,
eastern arborvitae swamps, coastline, over 150 waterfalls, and very low population densities. Because of the camping, boating, fishing, snowmobiling, hunting, and hiking opportunities, many Lower Peninsula and Wisconsin families spend their vacations in the U.P.
Government
State prisons are located in
Baraga,
Marquette,
Munising,
Newberry and
Kincheloe.
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan has three state
universities:
Northern Michigan University in Marquette;
Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie; and
Michigan Technological University in Houghton. Appropriate with the region's history, Michigan Tech was founded as a
school of mines, targeting those seeking professional degrees in the excavation industry critical to the region.
Casinos
Indian Casinos have become popular in the U.P. One of the first Indian casinos in the country was started in
Baraga County by the
Ojibwa nation. Originally the casinos were simple, one-room affairs. Some of the casinos are now quite elaborate.
Sherman Travel list
In 2005, ShermanTravel, LLC published a list of worldwide travel destinations,
Top 10 Summer Destinations, which included the U.P. in the tenth spot. The article was republished in April 2006 by MSN.com.
[11]
The Porcupine Mountains, the oldest mountains in North America
Major Attractions of the Upper Peninsula
★ Au Train Falls
★
Copper Harbor
★
Garlyn Zoo
★
Fayette Historic State Park
★
Isle Royale National Park
★
Lake Superior State University, Lakers
★
Mackinac Island
★
Michigan Technological University, Huskies
★ National Ski Hall of Fame
★
Northern Michigan University, Wildcats
★
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
★ The
Porcupine Mountains
★ The
Soo Locks
★
Tahquamenon Falls
Culture
Early settlers included multiple waves of people from
Nordic countries. There are still active
Swedish- and
Finnish-speaking communities in many areas of the Upper Peninsula today. People of
Finnish ancestry make up 16% of the peninsula's population. The U.P. is home to the highest concentration of Finns outside Europe. Some aspects of Finnish culture, such as the
sauna and the concept of
sisu, have been adopted generally by residents of the Upper Peninsula. The television program ''Finland Calling'', filmed at Marquette station
WLUC-TV, is the only Finnish-language television broadcast in the United States; it has aired since
March 25,
1962. America's only college with Finnish roots,
Finlandia University, is located in
Hancock, Michigan.
[12] Street signs in Hancock are also written in English, with the corresponding Finnish name underneath.
Other sizeable ethnic communities in the Upper Peninsula include those of
French-Canadian,
German,
Cornish,
Italian, and
American Indian ancestry.
Upper Peninsula natives
speak a dialect influenced by Scandinavian and French-Canadian speech. A popular bumper sticker, a parody of the "Say YES to Michigan" slogan promoted by state tourism officials, shows an outline of the Upper Peninsula and the slogan, "Say yah to da UP, eh?"
Regional identity
Today, the Upper Peninsula is home to 328,000 people—only about 3% of the state's population—living in almost one-third of the state's land area. Residents are known as Yoopers, (from "U.P.ers") and many consider themselves Yoopers before they consider themselves Michiganders. (People living in the Lower Peninsula are commonly called "
trolls" by Upper Peninsula residents, as they live "
Under da Bridge.") This
regionalism is not only a result of the physical separation of the two peninsulas, but also the history of the state.
Residents of the western Upper Peninsula take on some of the cultural identities of both Wisconsin and Michigan. In terms of sports fandom, residents often gravitate toward the nearby Wisconsin teams, particularly the
Green Bay Packers. This is a result of both proximity and the broadcast and print media of the area. However, the typical
high school graduate from the U.P. will likely look first to local universities, and then to the Lower Peninsula schools, rather than to Wisconsin schools (mainly because of the considerable tuition difference for in-state students).
A trip downstate is often rather difficult: a trip from
Ironwood to
Detroit is roughly 600 miles (960 km) long, more than twice the distance to
Minneapolis and almost as long as a trip to
St. Louis. Such a trip is made more difficult by the lack of expressways: a short section of
I-75 is the only expressway in the UP. Commonly, people of the western U.P. will go to Minneapolis or Wisconsin for trips, but they have managed to retain identity with Michigan. Residents of the northeastern part of the U.P. may cross the Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge to Canada more often than they cross the Mackinac Bridge to the Lower Peninsula, and they often associate themselves as closer to
Northern Ontario. Additionally, although they are not physically a part of the Peninsula,
Isle Royale and Mackinac Island are regarded as parts of it.
Cuisine
The Upper Peninsula has a distinctive local cuisine. The
pasty, a kind of meat turnover originally brought to the region by
Cornish miners, is extremely popular among locals and tourists alike.
Pasty varieties include chicken, venison, pork, hamburger, and pizza.
Many restaurants serve potato sausage and
cudighi, a spicy Italian meat.
Finnish immigrants contributed ''
nisu'', a
cardamom-flavored sweet bread; ''pannukakku'', a variant on the pancake with a custard flavor; ''
viili'' (sometimes spelled "fellia"), a stretchy, fermented Finnish milk; and ''
korppu'', hard slices of toasted cinnamon-bread, traditionally dipped in
coffee.
Thimbleberry jam and
maple syrup are highly prized local delicacies. Fresh
Great Lakes fish, such as the
lake trout and
whitefish, are commonly eaten, despite concerns of
PCB contamination and elevated
mercury concentrations.
Smoked and
pickled fish are also popular.
"There is little in the way of gourmet food shops in the Upper Peninsula. But you can find shops that sell foods grown or gathered nearby, as well as shops that feature ethnic specialties that descend from the large migrations of Europeans who came here to work in the mines."
[13]
Politics
The current
Congressman from the district containing the U.P.,
Bart Stupak, the U.P.'s
State Senator, and three of the four
State Representatives whose districts contain parts of the U.P. are Democrats.
Superior (proposed state)
Main articles: Superior (proposed state)
'Superior' is the name of a longstanding
51st state proposal involving the
secession of the
Upper Peninsula of Michigan from the rest of the state of
Michigan. Named for
Lake Superior, the idea has gained serious attention at times, though it is quite unlikely to ever come to fruition due to the strong connections that were cemented by the completion of the
Mackinac Bridge, which gave the peninsula a direct highway connection to the rest of the state.
[14]
Several prominent legislators including local politician
Dominic Jacobetti formally attempted this legislation in the 1970s, with little traction.
[15]
Demographics
The Upper Peninsula remains a predominantly rural region. As of the
2000 census, the region had a population of 317,258, and was predicted to have fallen to 312,153 according to the
Census Bureau's July 1,
2006 estimate.
According to the
2000 census, only 91,624 people live in the twelve towns of at least 4,000 people, covering 96.5 square miles (155.365 km²). Only 114,544 people live in the twenty-one towns of at least 2,000 or more people, which cover 123.7 square miles (320.4 km²)—less than 1% of the peninsula's land area.
'Cities and Towns of the Upper Peninsula'| City | Population | Area (sq mi) |
|---|
| Marquette | 19,661 | 11.4 |
| Sault Ste. Marie | 16,542 | 14.8 |
| Escanaba | 13,140 | 12.7 |
| Menominee | 9,131 | 5.2 |
| Iron Mountain | 8,154 | 7.2 |
| Houghton | 7,134 | 4.3 |
| Ishpeming | 6,535 | 8.7 |
| Ironwood | 6,293 | 6.6 |
| Kingsford | 5,549 | 4.3 |
| Gladstone | 5,266 | 5.0 |
| Negaunee | 4,576 | 13.8 |
| Hancock | 4,323 | 2.5 |
| Manistique | 3,583 | 3.2 |
| Norway | 2,959 | 8.8 |
| Newberry | 2,686 | 1.0 |
| St. Ignace | 2,678 | 2.7 |
| Munising | 2,539 | 5.4 |
| Bessemer | 2,148 | 5.5 |
| Laurium | 2,126 | 0.7 |
| L'Anse | 2,107 | 2.6 |
| Wakefield | 2,085 | 8.0 |
| TOTAL | 114,544 | 123.7 |
'Counties of the Upper Peninsula'| County | Population | Land Area (sq mi) | Population Density (per sq mi) |
| Alger | 9,862 | 918 | 10.7 |
| Baraga | 8,735 | 904 | 9.7 |
| Chippewa | 38,413 | 1561 | 24.7 |
| Delta | 38,520 | 1170 | 32.9 |
| Dickinson | 27,427 | 766 | 35.8 |
| Gogebic | 17,370 | 1102 | 15.8 |
| Houghton | 36,016 | 1012 | 35.6 |
| Iron | 13,138 | 1166 | 11.3 |
| Keweenaw | 2,301 | 541 | 4.3 |
| Luce | 7,024 | 903 | 7.8 |
| Mackinac | 11,943 | 1022 | 11.7 |
| Marquette | 64,634 | 1821 | 35.5 |
| Menominee | 25,109 | 1043 | 24.3 |
| Ontonagon | 7,818 | 1312 | 6.0 |
| Schoolcraft | 8,903 | 1178 | 7.6 |
| 'TOTAL' | 317,258 | 16,420 | 19.3 |
Famous residents
★ Former
Detroit Lions head coach
Steve Mariucci and
Michigan State basketball coach
Tom Izzo are both natives of
Iron Mountain. Both went to Northern Michigan University, where Mariucci was quarterback of the Wildcats'
1975 NCAA Division II national championship team.
★
University of Michigan football coach
Lloyd Carr is an alumnus of
Northern Michigan University and he quarterbacked the school's football team to an undefeated season in 1967. He graduated from NMU in 1968 with his B.S. in education and went on to earn his M.A. in education administration at NMU in 1970.
★
George Gipp, the "Gipper," who would be immortalized in film by
Ronald Reagan, was born in
Laurium. He was the first
All-American at the
Notre Dame football program.
★
Clarence L. "Kelly" Johnson, aircraft engineer and aeronautical innovator, was born in
Ishpeming.
★
John Lautner, a native of Marquette and alumnus of Northern Michigan University, was one of
Frank Lloyd Wright's most successful
Taliesin fellows. His
Modernist residence,
Chemosphere, is a
Los Angeles landmark.
★
Chase Osborn, the only
Governor of the State of
Michigan from the Upper peninsula (1911-1913)
★
Pam Reed is an ultrarunner who currently resides in
Tucson, Arizona. She grew up in Palmer, Michigan, and graduated from Michigan Technological University.
★
Glenn T. Seaborg, a
chemist and major contributor in the discovery of several of the
transuranium elements, was born in
Ishpeming. Before his death in
1999, he was the only living person to have a chemical element named after him (
seaborgium, abbreviated as Sg and with
atomic number 106). This name caused controversy because Seaborg was still alive, but eventually it was accepted by international chemists. Though he lived most of his life in
California, the Seaborg Center at Northern Michigan University is named in his honor.
★
Art Van Damme, jazz accordionist, was born in
Norway.
★
John D. Voelker, who wrote under the pen name
Robert Traver, wrote ''
Anatomy of a Murder'' which was filmed in Big Bay
★
Terry O'Quinn, actor, was born in Newberry in 1952.
★
Mike Shaw, professional wrestler, was born in Skandia. He wrestled in the WWE as Bastion Booger and the WCW as Norman the Lunatic.
★
Howard Schultz, chairman of
Starbucks Coffee Co. and a Northern Michigan University alumnus.
References
1. Hunts Guide to Michigan's Upper Peninsula, , Mary, Hunt, , 1997,
2. http://faculty.nmu.edu/upced/UPinfo/UPHIST.HTM
3. http://www.uptravel.com/TheUP/TheUP.htm
4. http://www.netstate.com/states/geography/mi_geography.htm
5. http://www.earthscape.org/t2/scr01/scr01a.html
6. http://geography.about.com/library/misc/ucupper.htm
7. http://www.interstate-guide.com/i-075.html
8. http://www.december.com/places/up/transit.html
9. Referendum Row
10. United States Time Zones
11. Top 10 Summer Destinations
12. Keweenaw Peninsula
13. Hunts Guide to Michigan's Upper Peninsula "http://hunts-upguide.com/specialty_foods.html" ''Hunts Guide to Michigan's Upper Peninsula'' March 31, 2007. Retrieved on March 31, 2007.
14. NBC Evening News for Friday, Aug 08, 1975, accessed November 6, 2006
15. The Dominic J. Jacobetti Collection, accessed November 6, 2006
External links
★
Map of Upper Peninsula Counties and Minor Civil Divisions
★
Upper Peninsula multimedia showcase of neighbors, storytellers and adventures
★
Upper Peninsula web directory
★
Snowmobiling in the Upper Peninsula winter recreation
★
''Inland Seas'' by Great Lakes Historical Society
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