L'Anse in Baraga County, Michigan — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

The L’Anse Waterfront

Explore Baraga County’s Heritage

— Western Upper Peninsula Heritage Trail —

The L’Anse Waterfront Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by J. J. Prats, August 3, 2024

1. The L’Anse Waterfront Marker

Inscription. To the native Ojibwa, this area was known as Wikwedong ("“in a bay”). The French Jesuit priest Father René Menard renamed it L’Anse de Sainte Thérèse (St. Theresa’s Cove) in honor of his arrival on St. Theresa’s Day in 1660. Although fur traders were here before him, Menard is the first white person on record here. Like Father Frederic Baraga nearly 200 years later, he came from Europe to bring Christianity to native people in the North American wilderness. But Menard wasn’t destined to reach his goal. He set off along the L’Anse-Lac Vieux Desert Trail the next spring and was never heard from again.

In contrast, Henry Ford’s presence here spanned three decades. He left his mark on the waterfront when he bought the Stearns & Culver sawmill complex in 1922. For 32 years, the mill that once stood along the Falls River to your left churned out lumber for Ford’s wood-paneled cars, known as “Woodies.” A ceiling-tile plant has stood on the site since 1956.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & Commerce • Natural Resources • Religion & Religious Structures • Settlements & Settlers. A significant historical year for this entry is 1660.

Location. 46° 45.518′ N, 88° 27.352′ W. Marker is in L'Anse, Michigan, in Baraga

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County. It is at the intersection of North Front Street and West Broad Street, on the right when traveling south on North Front Street. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Lanse MI 49946, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

and in Copper Country.

It is also in the American Midwest,

on the Great Lakes,

and on Lake Superior’s South Shore Region.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Great North Woods,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Northwest Territory.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within one mile of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Arrival at LaPointe (approx. 1.1 miles away); Celebration of Holy Mass (approx. 1.1 miles away); Unum Est Necessarium (approx. 1.1 miles away); Departure from Metlika (approx. 1.1 miles away); The Snowshoe Priest (approx. 1.1 miles away); Storm On Lake Superior (approx. 1.1 miles away); L’Anse-Lac Vieux Desert Trail (approx. 1.1 miles away); Dog Sled Episode (approx. 1.1 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in L'Anse.

More about this marker. This interpretive panel is illustrated with four photographs. Clockwise from upper right, the captions read:

• View of the L’Anse waterfront from the passenger and freight dock before the fire of 1896 that destroyed the village.

• The L’Anse waterfront of the 1920s. Distant View of Form Mill, L’Anse, Micn.

• Arial View of the Village of L’Anse in the 1960s. Photos courtesy Clyde Elmblad except as noted.

• The Ford sawmill in the 1940s. Photo courtesy Baraga County Historical Society Museum.

Photographed by J. J. Prats, August 3, 2024

2. The L’Anse Waterfront Marker

Credits. This page was last revised on August 14, 2024. It was originally submitted on August 14, 2024, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio. This page has been viewed 248 times since then and 14 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on August 14, 2024, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio.