The Lost Peninsula is a small exclave of the U.S. state of

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 part of

Monroe County Monroe County may refer to seventeen counties in the United States, all named for James Monroe: * Monroe County, Alabama *Monroe County, Arkansas * Monroe County, Florida * Monroe County, Georgia *Monroe County, Illinois *Monroe County, Indian ...

in the southeasternmost corner of the state. The Lost Peninsula was created as a result of the

Toledo War The Toledo War (1835–36), also known as the Michigan–Ohio War or the Ohio–Michigan War, was an almost bloodless boundary dispute between the U.S. state of Ohio and the adjoining territory of Michigan over what is now known as the Toledo ...

boundary dispute in 1835 and 1836 to determine whether the State of

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

or the Michigan Territory would control an area known as the Toledo Strip. After the Toledo War, the state border was established at approximately the 41°44’ north

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 ...

line just north of the mouth of the Maumee River. This gave the river and the city of Toledo to the state of Ohio. However, the state line continued across the smaller Ottawa River and divided the peninsula on the far side of the river. The land north of the state line on the far side of the river remained in Michigan, but it no longer had any land connection to the remainder of the state. The area became known as the “Lost Peninsula". The approximately 140 Michigan residents that live on the small peninsula must travel south into

Lucas County, Ohio Lucas County is a county located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. It is bordered to the east by Lake Erie, and to the southeast by the Maumee River, which runs to the lake. As of the 2020 census, the population was 431,279 ...

on a 10-minute drive before going north to get back to the rest of Michigan. The Lost Peninsula is administered by Erie Township. Public school students must travel through Ohio to attend schools in Michigan. The peninsula, about 250 acres in area, contains a marina and two restaurants as well as homes. Two people were killed on the peninsula during the

1965 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak On April 10–12, 1965, a devastating severe weather event affected the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. The tornado outbreak produced 55 confirmed tornadoes in one day and 16 hours. The worst part of the outbreak oc ...

. In 2005, a proposal to build 300 luxury condominium units on the peninsula was ultimately withdrawn over water-supply issues.

References

{{Monroe County, Michigan Unincorporated communities in Michigan Unincorporated communities in Monroe County, Michigan Landforms of Monroe County, Michigan Exclaves in the United States Michigan populated places on Lake Erie