Little Bay de Noc
Encyclopedia
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 Escanaba
and Gladstone
are on the west side of the bay.
The bay's name comes from the Noquet
(or Noc) Native American
people (thought to have been related to the Menominee
of the Algonquian
language group), who once lived along the shores. Douglass Houghton
came to Sand Point (in Escanaba) in 1844 with his party of government surveyors to chart the land to the north.
Escanaba has a deep harbor, which made it a lumbering center. The first sawmill
was built there in 1836. The bay also shipped iron ore from the rich iron ranges in Michigan's upper peninsula, with the first ore dock built at Escanaba in 1864. Escanaba was incorporated in 1866. A bit further north, Gladstone was founded in 1887 by U.S. Senator from Minnesota
, William D. Washburn
, to serve as a rail-lake terminal for lumber products.
The Escanaba
, Days
, Tacoosh
, Rapid, and Whitefish
rivers all drain into the bay. Rapid River
marks the mouth of the eponymous river and the head of the bay.
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 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.
The bay, consisting of approximately 30,000 acres (120 km²), 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 cities of Escanaba
Escanaba, Michigan
Escanaba is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, located in the banana belt on the state's Upper Peninsula. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 13,140, making it the third-largest city in the Upper Peninsula after Marquette and Sault Ste. Marie...
and Gladstone
Gladstone, Michigan
Gladstone is a city in Delta County in the U.S. state of Michigan. First settled in 1877, Gladstone's original name was Saunders Point. The population was 5,032 at the 2000 census....
are on the west side of the bay.
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. Douglass Houghton
Douglass Houghton
Douglass Houghton was an American geologist and physician, primarily known for his exploration of the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan.-Early life and education:...
came to Sand Point (in Escanaba) in 1844 with his party of government surveyors to chart the land to the north.
Escanaba has a deep harbor, which made it a lumbering center. The first sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
was built there in 1836. The bay also shipped iron ore from the rich iron ranges in Michigan's upper peninsula, with the first ore dock built at Escanaba in 1864. Escanaba was incorporated in 1866. A bit further north, Gladstone was founded in 1887 by U.S. Senator from Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, William D. Washburn
William D. Washburn
William Drew Washburn was an American politician. He served in both the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate as a Republican from Minnesota. Three of his seven brothers became politicians: Elihu B. Washburne, Cadwallader C. Washburn, and Israel Washburn, Jr...
, to serve as a rail-lake terminal for lumber products.
The Escanaba
Escanaba River
The Escanaba River is a river in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan.In his poem The Song of Hiawatha, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow describes how Hiawatha "crossed the rushing Esconaba". It is a wide river that cuts into limestone beds...
, Days
Days River
The Days River is a river in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan.It is a narrow river that is rocky, scenic and supports brook, steelhead trout, rainbow trout and smelt in the spring. The river runs south to its mouth on Little Bay De Noc on Lake Michigan at , near Masonville...
, Tacoosh
Tacoosh River
The Tacoosh River is situated in Upper Peninsula of Michigan state, in the United States. It flows into Lake Michigan at Little Bay de Noc....
, Rapid, and Whitefish
Whitefish River (Michigan)
The Whitefish River is a river in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The mouth of the river is in Delta County at on the Little Bay De Noc of Lake Michigan. The main branch of the river is formed by the confluence of the east and west branches at .The east branch rises out of Trout...
rivers all drain into the bay. Rapid River
Rapid River, Michigan
Rapid River is an unincorporated community in Masonville Township, Delta County in the U.S. state of Michigan.It is situated on the northern end of the Little Bay de Noc at , between the mouths of the Tacoosh and Rapid rivers with the mouth of the Whitefish River just to the east. U.S. Highway 2...
marks the mouth of the eponymous river and the head of the bay.