Garden Peninsula
Encyclopedia
The Garden Peninsula is a peninsula
of 22 miles (35.4 km) in length that extends southwestward into Lake Michigan
from the mainland of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The peninsula is bordered by Lake Michigan on the east, and by Big Bay de Noc
on the west. The base of the peninsula is served by U.S. Highway 2
, and the peninsula's west shore is reached by M-183
. The largest settlement on the peninsula is Garden, Michigan
.
Many of the peninsula's hardwood
s were cut down for use in the charcoal
-fired iron furnaces operated by the Jackson Iron Company in 1867-1891 at what is now Fayette State Park, on the peninsula's western shore. With its access to Great Lakes shipping, the remaining lumber of the Garden Peninsula was largely logged by the 1890s.
After the conclusion of the old-growth logging era, homestead
ers tried to develop an agricultural economy on the cleared land; but these efforts largely failed in the 20th century, the main exceptions being fruit such as strawberries. Much of the peninsula reverted to second-growth woodland within the Lake Superior State Forest
.
bedrock that outlines much of the western shore of Lake Michigan and is part of the larger Niagara Escarpment
. One large surviving portion of the sill is now Wisconsin's Door Peninsula
. Parts of the limestone sill between the Door and Garden peninsulas have been eroded away by glacier
s. An archipelago
of islands south of the Garden Peninsula spans the gap between the two peninsulas, and hems in Green Bay, Lake Michigan's largest bay, to the west.
The Garden Peninsula's line of limestone hills reaches as high as 165 feet (56 m) above the water at Burnt Bluff south of Fayette.
The island-strewn waters around the Garden Peninsula continue to yield a harvest of freshwater fish
. One of the peninsula's largest bays, Gillnet Haven Bay southeast of Fayette on the peninsula's eastern shore, commemorates the gill nets used by Lake Michigan's Native American fishermen.
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 22 miles (35.4 km) in length that extends southwestward 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...
from the mainland of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The peninsula is bordered by Lake Michigan on the east, and by Big Bay de Noc
Big Bay de Noc
Big Bay de Noc is a bay in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The bay, which opens into Lake Michigan's Green Bay, is enclosed by Delta County...
on the west. The base of the peninsula is served by U.S. Highway 2
U.S. Route 2 in Michigan
US Highway 2 is a component of the United States Numbered Highway System that connects Everett, Washington, to the Upper Peninsula of the US state of Michigan, with a separate segment that runs from Rouses Point, New York, to Houlton, Maine...
, and the peninsula's west shore is reached by M-183
M-183 (Michigan highway)
M-183 is a north–south state trunkline highway in the Upper Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. It serves Fayette State Park as an access route from US Highway 2 . The highway runs through rural farmlands of the Garden Peninsula and next to Big Bay de Noc, a bay of Lake Michigan. The community...
. The largest settlement on the peninsula is Garden, Michigan
Garden, Michigan
Garden is a village in Delta County of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the village had a total population of 240. The village is located within Garden Township....
.
Many of the peninsula's hardwood
Hardwood
Hardwood is wood from angiosperm trees . It may also be used for those trees themselves: these are usually broad-leaved; in temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen.Hardwood contrasts with softwood...
s were cut down for use in the charcoal
Charcoal
Charcoal is the dark grey residue consisting of carbon, and any remaining ash, obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood or other substances in the absence of oxygen...
-fired iron furnaces operated by the Jackson Iron Company in 1867-1891 at what is now Fayette State Park, on the peninsula's western shore. With its access to Great Lakes shipping, the remaining lumber of the Garden Peninsula was largely logged by the 1890s.
After the conclusion of the old-growth logging era, homestead
Homesteading
Broadly defined, homesteading is a lifestyle of simple self-sufficiency.-Current practice:The term may apply to anyone who follows the back-to-the-land movement by adopting a sustainable, self-sufficient lifestyle. While land is no longer freely available in most areas of the world, homesteading...
ers tried to develop an agricultural economy on the cleared land; but these efforts largely failed in the 20th century, the main exceptions being fruit such as strawberries. Much of the peninsula reverted to second-growth woodland within the Lake Superior State Forest
Lake Superior State Forest
Lake Superior State Forest is a state forest in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It is operated by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. The North Country Trail utilizes this state forest for 43 miles of its route....
.
Formation
The Garden Peninsula is the Upper Peninsula section of a sill of limestoneLimestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
bedrock that outlines much of the western shore of Lake Michigan and is part of the larger Niagara Escarpment
Niagara Escarpment
The Niagara Escarpment is a long escarpment, or cuesta, in the United States and Canada that runs westward from New York State, through Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois...
. One large surviving portion of the sill is now Wisconsin's Door Peninsula
Door Peninsula
The Door Peninsula is a peninsula in eastern Wisconsin, separating the southern part of the Green Bay from Lake Michigan. The peninsula begins in northern Brown and Kewaunee counties and proceeds northeast to include all of Door County. It is the western portion of the Niagara Escarpment. Well...
. Parts of the limestone sill between the Door and Garden peninsulas have been eroded away by glacier
Glacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
s. An archipelago
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
of islands south of the Garden Peninsula spans the gap between the two peninsulas, and hems in Green Bay, Lake Michigan's largest bay, to the west.
The Garden Peninsula's line of limestone hills reaches as high as 165 feet (56 m) above the water at Burnt Bluff south of Fayette.
The island-strewn waters around the Garden Peninsula continue to yield a harvest of freshwater fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
. One of the peninsula's largest bays, Gillnet Haven Bay southeast of Fayette on the peninsula's eastern shore, commemorates the gill nets used by Lake Michigan's Native American fishermen.