Bay Shore

History

The land was originally owned by Eugene Sly and Nancy Stauffer. The community was known as both Bay Side to the north and Bay Shore, but the Bay Shore name was adopted when the Chicago and West Michigan Railway built a station there in 1892. The name Bay Shore came from its coastal location on Little Traverse Bay. A post office opened in Bay Shore on July 25, 1892 with Sly serving as the first postmaster. The community was surveyed and platted by John Swift in 1896. The post office operated until September 30, 1965. While the community no longer has its own post office, it may use the Bay Shore 49711 post office box ZIP Code. The community of Bay Shore was listed as a newly-organized census-designated place for the 2010 census, meaning it now has officially defined boundaries and population statistics for the first time.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bay Shore CDP has a total area of , all land. * runs through the center of the community near the coast of Lake Michigan. * is just to the east of the community and runs south to Horton Bay.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  3,815
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  3,099
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,978
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  2,420
• Ring-billed Gull

  Larus delawarensis Ord, 1815 · Aves
  2,262
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,100
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,062
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,061