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The Potawatomi Islands is the most common historic name given to the string of islands that delineate the transition from Green Bay to Lake Michigan, one of the
Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...
. The archipelago is also termed the "Grand Traverse Islands". The largest of the islands is Washington Island, in Door County, Wisconsin. Washington Island accounts for 62% of the islands' combined surface area.Flora and Vegetation of the Grand Traverse Islands (Lake Michigan), Wisconsin and Michigan
by Emmet J. Judziewicz, ''The Michigan Botanist'', Volume 40, Number 4, October 2001, pages 130 Others include Plum Island,
Detroit Island Detroit Island is an island in Lake Michigan in the southern part of the town of Washington in Door County, Wisconsin, United States. The island has a land area of 2.578 km² (0.9955 sq mi, or 637.12 acres), out of which 27.6% is open to the ...
, Hog Island,
Pilot Island Pilot Island is an island in Lake Michigan in the Town of Washington, in Door County, Wisconsin; it is part of Green Bay National Wildlife Refuge Green Bay National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge of the United States located in ...
, and Rock Island in Wisconsin and Little Gull Island,
Summer Island Summer Island is an island in Lake Michigan, 2.5 miles (4 km) miles off the southern tip of the Garden Peninsula in the U.S. state of Michigan. It can easily be seen from Fairport, on the southern end of Delta County Road 483, the locally ma ...
,
Little Summer Island Little Summer Island is an island in Lake Michigan. It is located in Fairbanks Township, in Delta County, Michigan. It was logged extensively in the late 1800s. Other islands in the chain are from north to south *Little Summer Island * Summer I ...
,
Poverty Island Poverty Island is a small island in the U.S. state of Michigan. The island is within Delta County in Lake Michigan and is home to the Poverty Island Light Station, an abandoned lighthouse which is in disrepair. Poverty Island is currently owne ...
, Rocky Island, and St. Martin Island in Michigan. The broader term "Green Bay Islands" is used when additional islands located to the southwest are included in the island group.


History

In the 19th century, a fishing industry was centered around the Potowatomi Islands. Areas where fishing was most active were termed fishing grounds, and were termed the Sack Bay, Summer Island, St. Martin Island, and Washington Island grounds. During the peak of the industry in the 1840s and 1850s, approximately 20 fishing families lived year-round on Summer Island and several more on Rock Island. Following the introduction of the steam tug in 1869 and also as the whitefish industry declined, most fishermen left the smaller islands. Those who continued to fish moved especially to Washington Island and harbors in Big and Little Bay de Noc. Switching from the sail-powered
sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...
to the steam tug expanded the fishermens' ranges and allowed them to live further from the fish they caught.


Municipalities

The Potawatomi Islands form the Town of Washington in Door County, Wisconsin and part of Fairbanks Township in Delta County, Michigan.


See also

* Lake Michigan § Islands * Door Peninsula § Reefs and shoals in Door County waters Peninsulas *
Garden Peninsula The Garden Peninsula is a peninsula of 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 ...
(to the north) *
Door Peninsula The Door Peninsula is a peninsula in eastern Wisconsin, separating the southern part of the Green Bay (Lake Michigan), Green Bay from Lake Michigan. The peninsula includes northern Kewaunee County, Wisconsin, Kewaunee County, northeaster ...
(to the south) Nearby and adjacent waters *
Porte des Morts Porte des Morts, also known as Porte des Mortes, the Door of Death, and Death's Door is a strait linking Lake Michigan and Green Bay between the northern tip of the Door Peninsula and the southernmost of the Potawatomi Islands. At its narrowe ...
south of the islands *
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. The Garden Peninsula is on the east side of the bay and the Stonington Peninsula is ...
*
Little Bay de Noc Little Bay de Noc is a bay in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The bay opens into Lake Michigan's Green Bay. The bay, consisting of approximately 30,000 acres (120 km²), is enclosed by Delta County. The cities of Escan ...
*
Green Bay (Lake Michigan) Green Bay is an arm of Lake Michigan, located along the south coast of Michigan's Upper Peninsula and the east coast of Wisconsin. It is separated from the rest of the lake by the Door Peninsula in Wisconsin, the Garden Peninsula in Michigan, an ...
Counties *
Delta County, Michigan Delta County is a county in the Upper Peninsula in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 36,903. The county seat is Escanaba. The county was surveyed in 1843 and organized in 1861. Its name originates from the G ...
(to the north) *
Door County, Wisconsin Door County is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 30,066. Its county seat is Sturgeon Bay. It is named after the strait between the Door Peninsula and Washington Island. The dangero ...
(to the south) Protected areas *
Green Bay National Wildlife Refuge Green Bay National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge of the United States located in the state of Wisconsin. It includes five all or part of six islands in Lake Michigan: Hog Island, Plum Island, Pilot Island, part of St. Martin I ...
* Rock Island State Park *
Gravel Island National Wildlife Refuge Gravel Island National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge located off the Door Peninsula in Wisconsin. Founded in 1913, the refuge consists of two Lake Michigan islands that act as nesting grounds for native bird species. It is inhabit ...
*Shingleton Forest Management Unit, 1,488 acres on Big Summer and Little Summer IslandsCompartment Review Presentation Shingleton Forest Management Unit
Michigan Department of Natural Resources, 2015 History *
Wisconsin v. Michigan Two Supreme Court cases, ''Wisconsin v. Michigan'', 295 U.S. 455 (1935) and ''Wisconsin v. Michigan'', 297 U.S. 547 (1936), settled a territorial dispute between Wisconsin and Michigan. Background The 1836 boundary description between Wiscons ...
, a 1936 dispute involving which state or states the Potawatomi Islands belong to; this was decided by the Supreme Court


Notes


External links


Friends of the Grand Traverse Islands

Friends of Plum and Pilot Islands

Summer Islands Management Area
''Michigan Department of Natural Resources'' Islands of Delta County, Michigan Islands of Lake Michigan in Michigan Islands of Door County, Wisconsin Islands of Lake Michigan in Wisconsin {{DoorCountyWI-geo-stub