Whitefish Township is a

civil township A civil township is a widely used unit of local government in the United States that is subordinate to a County (United States), county, most often in the northern and midwestern parts of the country. The term town is used in New England town, Ne ...

of Chippewa County in the U.S. state of

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, ...

. The population was 474 at the 2020 census. With a land area of , Whitefish Township is the sixth-largest municipality in the state by land area and among the least-densely populated. Located along

Whitefish Bay Whitefish Bay is a large bay on the eastern end of Lake Superior between Michigan, United States, and Ontario, Canada. It is located between Whitefish Point in Michigan and Whiskey Point along the more rugged, largely wilderness Canadian Shield ...

on the shores of

Lake Superior Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. Lake Michigan–Huron has a larger combined surface area than Superior, but is normally considered tw ...

, the township contains Whitefish Point Light and the

Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum is located at the Whitefish Point Light Station north of Paradise in Chippewa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The light station property was transferred to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society (GL ...

, as well as portions of

Tahquamenon Falls State Park The Tahquamenon Falls State Park is a public recreation area in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the second largest of List of Michigan state parks, Michigan's state parks. Bordering on Lake Superior, most of the park is located within Whitef ...

Geography

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 township has a total area of , of which is land and (17.76%) is water. Whitefish Township is the sixth-largest municipality by land area in the state after the townships of

McMillan MacMillan, Macmillan, McMillen or McMillan may refer to: People * McMillan (surname) * Clan MacMillan, a Highland Scottish clan Places Australia * Division of McMillan, electoral district in Australian House of Representatives in Victoria ...

Marenisco Marenisco Township is a civil township of Gogebic County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 455 at the 2020 census, a significant decrease from 1,727 at the 2010 census. The unincorporated community of Marenisco is within the ...

Hiawatha Hiawatha ( , also : ), also known as Ayenwatha or Aiionwatha, was a precolonial Native American leader and cofounder of the Iroquois Confederacy. He was a leader of the Onondaga people, the Mohawk people, or both. According to some accounts, he ...

, Watersmeet, and L'Anse. Whitefish Township occupies the northwest corner of Chippewa County in 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 ...

. It is on the shores of

to the north with

to the east.

Whitefish Point Whitefish Point is a cape of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, United States, marking the entry point of Whitefish Bay. It is north of the unincorporated community of Paradise, Michigan. Whitefish Point is known for the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum ...

forms the northern tip of the township and also includes

Vermilion Point Vermilion Point is a remote, undeveloped shore in Chippewa County, Michigan, United States. Located west of Whitefish Point, Michigan, this historic spot lies on a stretch of Lake Superior’s southeast coast known as the " Graveyard of the Gr ...

to the west. The township of Bay Mills, Chippewa, and Hulbert are to the south and southeast, while McMillan Township in Luce County borders to the west. The mouth of the

Tahquamenon River The Tahquamenon River ( ) is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed January 3, 2012 blackwater river in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The river flows ...

is within the township. The eastern portion of

, including the Lower Tahquamenon Falls, is within Whitefish Township, while a smaller portion of the state park extends west into McMillan Township. The township also contains Whitefish Point Light, the

, the

Whitefish Point Bird Observatory The Whitefish Point Bird Observatory (WPBO) is located in Chippewa County, Michigan, US, adjacent to the Whitefish Point Unit of the Seney National Wildlife Refuge. It operates as a non-profit, affiliate education and research facility of the A ...

, and the Whitefish Point Unit of the

Seney National Wildlife Refuge The Seney National Wildlife Refuge is a managed wetland in Schoolcraft County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It has an area of 95,212 acres (385 km2). It is bordered by M-28 and M-77. The nearest town of any size is Seney, Michigan. Th ...

Major highways

* runs south–north through the township before turning east within the community of Paradise. * Forest Route 42

Whitefish Bay National Forest Scenic Byway (Lake Superior Shoreline Road) enters briefly in the southern portion of the township before having its western terminus at M-123.

Communities

* Emerson is an uninhabited

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 ...

located within the township at . *

Paradise In religion and folklore, paradise is a place of everlasting happiness, delight, and bliss. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical, eschatological, or both, often contrasted with the miseries of human ...

is an unincorporated community located along M-123 at along the shores of Whitefish Bay. The Paradise 49768 ZIP Code serves the majority of Whitefish Township. * Shelldrake is an unincorporated community located within the township at . *Snug Harbor is an unincorporated community located along the Tahquamenon River at . *Timberlost is an unincorporated community located along the Tahquamenon River at . * Vermilion is an uninhabited unincorporated community and located at in the northern portion of the township at

along the shores of Lake Superior. The remote area was only previously surveyed until the Vermilion Lifesaving Station began operation in 1877. The small community grew to include mainly the servicemen at the station and their families. A post office in Vermilion was in operation from May 23, 1896 to October 31, 1922. When the station was closed in 1944, the community was abandoned. Only one original station structure exists along with several recently restored structures. *Whitefish Landing is an unincorporated community located along the Tahquamenon River just upstream from Timberlost at . *Whitefish Point is an unincorporated community located at at the northern end of the township near

. The

and Whitefish Point Light are located in Whitefish Point. The community was settled in 1871 and had its own post office from September 24, 1877 to February 15, 1974. While the post office is no longer in operation, it was listed as a Michigan State Historic Site in 1979.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 588 people, 285 households, and 196 families residing in the township. By 2020, its population was 474.

Images

File:Paradise, Michigan.JPG, File:Whitefish_Lighthouse.JPG, File:Tahquamenon Lower Falls - 51143432695.jpg,

References

Sources

* {{authority control Townships in Chippewa County, Michigan Townships in Michigan Michigan populated places on Lake Superior 1888 establishments in Michigan Populated places established in 1888 Michigan State Historic Sites in Chippewa County