Leland ( ) is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) 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 so ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. It is located in Leelanau County, part of the northwestern Lower Peninsula of the state. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 410. From 1883 to 2004, Leland was the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

of Leelanau County, which has since moved to Suttons Bay Township. Part of Leland Township, Leland is situated on an

isthmus An isthmus (; : isthmuses or isthmi) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea count ...

between Lake Leelanau and

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...

, and is bisected by the Leland River, flowing from the former to the latter. Leland is a significant tourism destination and

summer colony Summer or summertime is the hottest and brightest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, daylight hours are the longest and darkness hours are the shortest, with day ...

, and is located nearby

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is a U.S. national lakeshore in the northwestern Lower Peninsula of Michigan. Located within Benzie and Leelanau counties, the park extends along a stretch of Lake Michigan's eastern coastline, as well ...

. Leland also serves as the departure point for ferry service to

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and South Manitou Islands, both of which are wholly included in the National Lakeshore.

History

Leland is built on the site of one of the oldest and largest

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

villages on the

Leelanau Peninsula The Leelanau Peninsula ( ) is a peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan that extends about from the western side of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan into Lake Michigan, forming Grand Traverse Bay. It is often referred to as the "little finger" of ...

. Where the Leland (Carp) River flows into Lake Michigan, there was a natural

fish ladder A fish ladder, also known as a fishway, fish pass, fish steps, or fish cannon, is a structure on or around artificial and natural barriers (such as dams, locks and waterfalls) to facilitate diadromous fishes' natural migration as well as mov ...

(which was a traditional Native American fishing grounds). The settlement was called ''Mishi-me-go-bing'', meaning "the place where canoes run up into the river to land, because they have no harbor", or alternatively ''Che-ma-go-bing'' or ''Chi-mak-a-ping''. White settlers, who began arriving in the 1830s, also took advantage of the location as a fishing settlement. White settlement increased after Antoine Manseau, with his son Antoine Jr., and John Miller, built a dam and sawmill on the river in 1854. Construction of the dam raised the water level , and what had been three natural lakes in the river all became a single lake now known as Lake Leelanau (and is navigable all the way to the community of Cedar, about inland). The settlers built wooden docks, which allowed steamers and schooners to transport new settlers and supplies. From 1870 to 1884, the Leland Lake Superior Iron Co. operated an iron

smelter Smelting is a process of applying heat and a chemical reducing agent to an ore to extract a desired base metal product. It is a form of extractive metallurgy that is used to obtain many metals such as iron, copper, silver, tin, lead and zin ...

north of the river mouth, supplied with ore from the

Upper Peninsula The Upper Peninsula of Michigan—also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. or Yoop—is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula b ...

and

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, ca ...

made from local maple and beech timber; the charcoal was produced in fourteen beehive kilns near the smelting furnace, which produced up to 40 tons of iron per day. In 1884, the plant was sold to the Leland Lumber Co., which operated a sawmill on the site. Other sawmills and shingle mills operated in Leland during the years 1885–1900. As early as 1880, commercial fishermen sailed out of the harbor to catch trout and whitefish, building wooden shacks where they processed their catch and serviced their fleet. Up to eight powered tugs once sailed out of "Fishtown", as the buildings came to be known. Today, the historic fishing settlement and two

fish tug A fish tug (also spelled fishtug or referred to as a fishing tug) is a type of commercial fishing vessel used primarily on the Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence Seaway in the 20th century. History Fish tugs evolved from small, open, motorise ...

s, ''Joy'' and ''Janice Sue'', are owned by a non-profit organization, the Fishtown Preservation Society. Fishtown is home to a working fishery and a thriving charter fishing business. The riverfront is lined by a boardwalk and quaint shacks that have been converted into tourist shops. Around 1900, wealthy individuals from Chicago, Detroit, and other Midwestern industrial centers began to visit Leland and build summer cottages, arriving by Lake Michigan passenger steamer or by Lake Leelanau steamer from the railhead near Traverse City. This led to the construction of resort hotels, and the growth of Leland as a summer resort town.

Geography

Leland is in northern Leelanau County, on the west side of the Leelanau Peninsula. It is bordered to the west by Lake Michigan and to the east by the northern section of Lake Leelanau. The Leland River runs through the center of the community, connecting the two lakes. According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the Leland CDP has a total area of , of which are land and , or 2.22%, are water. Leland lies just north of the 45th parallel. A sign on

M-22 M-22 are a British-German DJ and producer duo consisting of Matt James and Frank Sanders. On March 22, the duo met, through a joint production, which is the reason for their stage name. History On March 22, 2015, the duo met during a joint ...

south of Leland reads "45th Parallel Halfway Between

Equator The equator is the circle of latitude that divides Earth into the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Southern Hemisphere, Southern Hemispheres of Earth, hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, about in circumferen ...

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...

Demographics

Transportation

*, the only road connecting Leland to the rest of the county. It leads northeast to Northport and southwest to Glen Arbor.
Manitou Island Transit
ferry service to North and South Manitou Island

Cultural institutions

* Leelanau Historical Society and Museum, 203 East Cedar Street
Leland Township Library
203 East Cedar Street

Michigan historical sites

* Walter Best Women's Club (Old Art Building), 1125 Main Street * Riverside Inn, 302 East River Street * Leelanau County Jail, 106 Chandler Street * Leland Historic District (Fishtown) * Greycote Cottage, 110 Pearl Street * W. K. Hatt Cottage, 410 North Main Street

Gallery

File:Leland Michigan Sign Looking North M-22.jpg, Sign on M-22 File:Leland Michigan Downtown M-22.jpg, Downtown Leland on M-22 File:Leland Michigan aerial view.jpg, Aerial view of Leland Harbor and

File:Fishtown historical marker in Leland, Michigan after the tourist season.jpg, Fishtown Historical Marker File:Leland HD.JPG, Buildings along the Leland River File:Leelanau County Jail.jpg, The former Leelanau County jail File:Walter T. Best Women's Club House.jpg, Walter T. Best Women's Club House File:Greycote.jpg, Greycote Cottage File:W.K. Hatt Cottage.jpg, W.K. Hatt Cottage

Notable people

Tim Allen Timothy Alan Dick (born June 13, 1953), known professionally as Tim Allen, is an American actor and comedian. He is known for playing Tim "The Toolman" Taylor on the ABC sitcom ''Home Improvement'' (1991–1999) for which he won a Golden Gl ...

(born 1953), comedian, actor * Thomas W. L. Ashley (1923–2010), U.S. representative (Ohio) * The

Ball Brothers The Ball brothers (Lucius, William, Edmund, Frank, and George) were five American industrialists and philanthropists who established a manufacturing business in New York and Indiana in the 1880s that was renamed the Ball Corporation in 1969. T ...

, industrialists and philanthropists * Charles E. Bennison (born 1943), Episcopal bishop of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

* Barbara Ninde Byfield (1930–1988), author, illustrator * Mark Clark (1896–1984), WW2 general,

Citadel A citadel is the most fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of ''city'', meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. ...

president * John J. Gilligan (1921–2013), U.S. representative, governor of Ohio * Alisha Glass (born 1988), Olympic volleyball player *

Jim Harrison James Harrison (December 11, 1937 – March 26, 2016) was an American poet, novelist, and essayist. He was a prolific and versatile writer publishing over three dozen books in several genres including poetry, fiction, nonfiction, children's lit ...

(1937–2016), author, township resident from 1968 to 2002 * Harlan Hatcher (1898–1998),

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

president * Arthur F. Lederle (1887–1972), U.S. federal judge * Alvin Mansfield Owsley (1888–1967), attorney, diplomat *

Keewaydinoquay Peschel Keewaydinoquay Pakawakuk Peschel (1918–July 21, 1999) was a scholar, ethnobotanist, herbalist, teacher, and author from Michigan. Early life Margaret Moorhouse Cook was born in 1918 in Ludington, Michigan. She identified as being Ojibwe. ...

(ca. 1919–1999), ethnobotanist, herbalist, educator * Emelia Schaub (1891–1995), county prosecutor, first female attorney in Michigan *

Kathleen Sebelius Kathleen Sebelius (; née Gilligan, born May 15, 1948) is an American politician who served as the 21st United States secretary of health and human services from 2009 until 2014. As Secretary of Health and Human Services, Sebelius was instrumenta ...

(born 1948), U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, governor of Kansas, daughter of John J. Gilligan *

Tobin Sprout Tobin Sprout (born April 28, 1955) is an American visual artist, musician, songwriter, and children's author. He is best known as a former member of the indie rock band Guided by Voices. He served as a secondary major songwriter and guitarist of ...

(born 1955), songwriter, guitarist (

Guided by Voices Guided by Voices is an American indie rock band formed in 1983 in Dayton, Ohio. It has made frequent personnel changes but always maintained the presence of principal songwriter Robert Pollard. The most well-known lineup of the band consisted o ...

)

References

External links

Leland Michigan Chamber of Commerce

Fishtown pictures
{{authority control Populated places established in 1853 Unincorporated communities in Leelanau County, Michigan Unincorporated communities in Michigan Census-designated places in Leelanau County, Michigan Census-designated places in Michigan Former county seats in Michigan Traverse City metropolitan area