Web Design in Orchard Lake, MI

Orchard Lake, Oakland County

Well-Known Places in Orchard Lake

Orchard Lake St. Mary's Preparatory, SS. Cyril and Methodius Seminary, Apple Island.

Orchard Lake Business Districts

• Orchard Lake Road
• Commerce Road

Major Employers in Orchard Lake

Orchard Lake St. Mary's Schools, SS. Cyril and Methodius Seminary, Village of Orchard Lake Government, Local professional services.

About Orchard Lake, Oakland County

Orchard Lake Village is one of Michigan's smallest and most affluent cities, a leafy Oakland County enclave of about 2,238 residents where roughly 40 percent of the total area is water. It wraps around the 795-acre Orchard Lake, whose Apple Island is now a protected nature sanctuary, and it is home to the historic Orchard Lake Schools campus and its nationally ranked St. Mary's Preparatory. The lake took its name from an apple orchard early settlers planted on the island.

History of Orchard Lake

• The lake and community are named for an apple orchard that settlers planted on the 35-acre island in the middle of Orchard Lake.
• 'The Castle,' a Romanesque Revival mansion resembling a Norman keep, was built in 1858 by Joseph Tarr Copeland, a Civil War general and one-time Michigan Supreme Court justice; it remains the oldest building on the campus.
• Copeland converted the mansion into the Orchard Lake Hotel in 1871.

Landmarks and Places in Orchard Lake

• Apple Island, a 35-acre island in Orchard Lake, now an abandoned, protected wildlife/nature sanctuary donated to the West Bloomfield schools.
• Orchard Lake itself, the third-largest lake in Oakland County at about 795 acres.
• 'The Castle' (1858) on the St. Mary's Preparatory campus.

The Orchard Lake Economy

• An affluent, almost entirely residential city; the 2000 census recorded a median household income of $121,126 and a median family income of $126,058.
• Institutional anchors include St. Mary's Preparatory and SS. Cyril and Methodius Seminary on the Orchard Lake Schools campus.
• Home to private clubs including Orchard Lake Country Club and nearby Pine Lake Country Club.

Community Life in Orchard Lake

• St. Mary's Prep's Eaglets are a Michigan high school football power, with state championships in 1977, 1994, 1999, 2000, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2024 (a 35-19 win over Byron Center at Ford Field).
• A deep Polish-American Catholic heritage centered on the Orchard Lake Schools and the seminary.
• In the 2000 census, 8.8 percent of residents reported Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac ancestry, reported as the highest such share of any place in the nation.

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