South Manitou Island

South Manitou Island is located in Lake Michigan, approximately 16 miles west of Leland, Michigan. It is part of Leelanau County and the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The uninhabited island is 8.277 mi² (21.436 km²) in land area and can be accessed by a ferry service from Leland. Larger North Manitou Island lies to its north.

The lighthouse on South Manitou Island, built in 1871.

South Manitou Island was popular in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries as a harbor and fueling station. This island was a stop for early mariners between Chicago and the Straits of Mackinac. A 100-foot (30 m) tall lighthouse, which was in operation from 1871 to 1958, marks the harbor.

The climate of the island provided an ideal environment for growing rye, beans, and peas, but not for getting them to a market. The island is now uninhabited, and most of its buildings lie in ruins.

In 1901, the United States Coast Guard built a station on the island to help ships in distress. This station is now the island's ranger station and is not open to the public. The 100 foot lighthouse tower, active from 1871 to 1958, marked the location of the only natural harbor between the Manitou Islands and Chicago.

The island is three miles (4.8 km) wide and three miles (4.8 km) long. On its west side, the island's shore is marked by perched sand dunes. Florence Lake is the island's only inland lake. The island has a system of trails and campsites. Guided tours on open-air vehicles are available to visitors, but most traffic is on foot.

The eastern side of the island is dominated by a large round bay. This bay is deep until very close to shore. On more than one occasion, ships found a safe port in a storm, even some of the large bulk carriers (See Lake freighter). During the famous "Big Storm" of 1913, Captain Stufflebeam nosed his steamer's bow (the passenger/packet steamer Illinois) up onto the beach. He kept the engines going full for 49 hours so the wind would not blow the vessel back out to sea, until he was able to send two seamen ashore to fasten to a stout tree. When the storm abated 24 hours later, he let go the tree, put his engines in reverse and backed away from shore to proceed safely on his journey.

A growth of Northern white cedars on the southwestern corner of the island are among the oldest and largest in the world. The largest is 18 feet (5.5 m) around and is estimated to be over 500 years old.

The Manitou islands are surrounded by over 50 known shipwreck sites, which are popular diving spots. One such shipwreck is the Francisco Morazan, which grounded and sank in 1960 off the south shore of the island.

References

• South Manitou Island: Blocks 1180 and 1181, Census Tract 9704, Leelanau County, Michigan United States Census Bureau

External links

• Manitou Island Transit
• South Manitou Island
• North Manitou Island
• North Manitou Island
• South Manitou Island