Bark River is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

located in Delta County in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. It is located in Bark River Township near the Bark River, from which it is named. It is situated on

U.S. Highway 2 U.S. Route 2 or U.S. Highway 2 (US 2) is an east–west U.S. Highway spanning across the northern continental United States. US 2 consists of two segments connected by various roadways in southern Canada. Unlike some routes, whi ...

and U.S. Highway 41 about 13 miles west of

Escanaba Escanaba ( ), commonly shortened to Esky, is a port city in Delta County in the U.S. state of Michigan, located on Little Bay de Noc in the state's Upper Peninsula. The population was 12,616 at the 2010 census, making it the third-largest city i ...

and just east of the Hannahville Indian Reservation. Bark River is at

latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north pol ...

45° 42' north and

longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east– west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek lette ...

87° 18' west. The ZIP code is and the

FIPS place code The Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) of the United States are a set of publicly announced standards that the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed for use in computer systems of non-military, American ...

is 05400. The elevation is 744 feet above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...

. Nearby Bark River International Raceway has hosted national

off-road racing Off-road racing is a form of motorsports consisting of specially-modified vehicles including cars, SUVs, trucks, motorbikes, quadbikes and buggies racing in off-road environments (e.g. snow, dirt, mud, etc.). North America Desert racing Desert ...

events, most recently the TORC Series.

History

It was first settled in 1871 by civil war hero Captain Charles Pease, who served as an escort and guide for land speculator Lars Kovala at the time. Was given a post office and named Barkville on Nov 30 1877. Its first postmaster was Luke D. McKenna. It was renamed Bark River in 1882. Its first post office was renamed on July 11, 1899.*

Images

File:BarkRiverMichiganSignUS2US41.jpg, Welcome sign File:BarkRiverHarrisSchoolUS2US41.jpg, Bark River-Harris High School File:IslandResortCasinoUS2US41.jpg, Island Resort & Casino

References

Unincorporated communities in Delta County, Michigan Populated places established in 1871 1871 establishments in Michigan Unincorporated communities in Michigan {{DeltaCountyMI-geo-stub