Web Design in Grand Island, MI

Grand Island, Michigan

Grand Island is in Alger County, with approximately 45 residents.

About Grand Island, Michigan

Grand Island Township is a civil township of Alger County, Michigan, established in 1905. It covers Grand Island in Lake Superior, federally designated as the Grand Island National Recreation Area, plus a small strip of mainland along M-28 just north of Munising where most of its residents actually live. Its population was 35 at the 2020 census, the second-least populated municipality in Michigan.

History of Grand Island

• Native Americans found the fisheries around Grand Island to be a resource for seasonal and year-round living. Artifacts from as early as 3,300 years before the present, about 1300 BC, have been found on the island.
• The U.S. Forest Service purchased Grand Island from the Cleveland Cliffs Iron Co., and the U.S. Congress designated it a National Recreation Area in 1990.
• The Grand Island East Channel Light was built in 1868 on the eastern ship channel into the port of Munising and remained in operation until 1913.

Landmarks and Places in Grand Island

• The Grand Island East Channel Light, an 1868 lighthouse on the privately owned Thumb of the island, viewable from Sand Point on the mainland inside Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore or from the water.
• The Grand Island North Light, a two-story brick station with a 40-foot tower painted in its original yellow, white and black, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 and used as a private summer home.

The Grand Island Economy

• Seasonal tourism is the visible activity. A passenger ferry and an island tour bus serve the recreation area in summer, running from a dock on M-28 northwest of Munising to Williams Landing.
• Before 1990 the island was corporate property, owned by the Cleveland Cliffs Iron Co. until the U.S. Forest Service bought it.
• By 2021 census estimates the township's median household income was $81,250, against a 2000 figure of $76,094 (U.S. Census Bureau).

Community Life in Grand Island

• The Grand Island Trail Marathon has been run on the island every July since 2005, missing only 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The event has included a marathon, a half marathon and a 50 km race, and in past years a 10K and a 2K race for children.

Local reference: en.wikipedia.org, en.wikipedia.org, en.wikipedia.org