Leland

History

Leland is built on the site of one of the oldest and largest Ottawa villages on the Leelanau Peninsula. Where the Leland (Carp) River flows into Lake Michigan, there was a natural fish ladder (which was a traditional Native American fishing grounds). The settlement was called Mishi-me-go-bing, meaning "the place where canoes run up into the river to land, because they have no harbor", or alternatively Che-ma-go-bing or Chi-mak-a-ping. White settlers, who began arriving in the 1830s, also took advantage of the location as a fishing settlement. White settlement increased after Antoine Manseau, with his son Antoine Jr., and John Miller, built a dam and sawmill on the river in 1854. Construction of the dam raised the water level , and what had been three natural lakes in the river all became a single lake now known as Lake Leelanau (and is navigable all the way to the community of Cedar, about inland). The settlers built wooden docks, which allowed steamers and schooners to transport new settlers and supplies. From 1870 to 1884, the Leland Lake Superior Iron Co. operated an iron smelter north of the river mouth, supplied with ore from the Upper Peninsula and charcoal made from local maple and beech timber; the charcoal was produced in fourteen beehive kilns near the smelting furnace, which produced up to 40 tons of iron per day. In 1884, the plant was sold to the Leland Lumber Co., which operated a sawmill on the site. Other sawmills and shingle mills operated in Leland during the years 1885–1900. As early as 1880, commercial fishermen sailed out of the harbor to catch trout and whitefish, building wooden shacks where they processed their catch and serviced their fleet. Up to eight powered tugs once sailed out of "Fishtown", as the buildings came to be known. Today,…

Geography

Leland is in northern Leelanau County, on the west side of the Leelanau Peninsula. It is bordered to the west by Lake Michigan and to the east by the northern section of Lake Leelanau. The Leland River runs through the center of the community, connecting the two lakes. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Leland CDP has a total area of , of which are land and , or 2.22%, are water. Leland lies just north of the 45th parallel. A sign on M-22 south of Leland reads "45th Parallel Halfway Between Equator & North Pole".

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  5,833
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  5,783
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  5,401
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  4,728
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,743
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  3,429
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,232
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  3,172

Largest nearby schools

• Leland Public School
  Other · LELAND · 450 students · 14.1:1 ratio
• Suttons Bay Elementary Middle School
  Elementary · SUTTONS BAY · 236 students · 12.4:1 ratio
• Suttons Bay Virtual School
  Other · Suttons Bay · 181 students · 30.2:1 ratio
• Suttons Bay Senior High School
  High · SUTTONS BAY · 161 students · 20.1:1 ratio
• Leelanau Montessori Public School Academy
  Elementary · Lake Leelanau · 74 students · 12.3:1 ratio