Big Bay de Noc
Encyclopedia
Upper Peninsula of Michigan
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is the northern of the two major land masses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan. It is commonly referred to as the Upper Peninsula, the U.P., or Upper Michigan. It is also known as the land "above the Bridge" linking the two peninsulas. The peninsula is bounded...
of the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. The bay, which opens into Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
's Green Bay, is enclosed by Delta County
Delta County, Michigan
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 38,520 people, 15,836 households, and 10,689 families residing in the county. The population density was 33 people per square mile . There were 19,223 housing units at an average density of 16 per square mile...
. The small Delta County settlements of Garden
Garden, Michigan
Garden is a village in Delta County of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the village had a total population of 240. The village is located within Garden Township....
and Nahma are harbors on the shore of the bay.
As with the more thickly-settled Little Bay de Noc
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 , is enclosed by Delta County...
, the bay's name comes from the Noquet
Noquet
The Noquet were a group of Native Americans who lived on the Upper Peninsula in Michigan. They spoke an Algonquian language. They are thought to have been most closely related to the Menominee Indians.-Sources:...
(or Noc) Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
people (thought to have been related to the Menominee
Menominee
Some placenames use other spellings, see also Menomonee and Menomonie.The Menominee are a nation of Native Americans living in Wisconsin. The Menominee, along with the Ho-Chunk, are the only tribes that are indigenous to what is now Wisconsin...
of the Algonquian
Algonquian languages
The Algonquian languages also Algonkian) are a subfamily of Native American languages which includes most of the languages in the Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthographically similar Algonquin dialect of the Ojibwe language, which is a...
language group), who once lived along the shores.
The bay is historically important for its 19th-century use as a center of the Lake Michigan iron smelting industry. A former smelting complex has been preserved as Fayette State Park. The state park's Snail Shell Harbor, off Big Bay de Noc, offers a harbor of refuge for small boats and yachts.
A lighthouse, the Peninsula Point Light
Peninsula Point Light
The Peninsula Point lighthouse is located on northern Lake Michigan south of Stonington, Michigan. Note: Some of the USCG literature references this light as "Point Peninsula Light".-Service:...
, marks the entrance of the bay.