High Island (Michigan)
USGS Topographic Map sheet 1:24,000
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 High Island
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| Geography | |
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| Location | Lake Michigan |
| Coordinates | 45°43′30″N 85°41′00″W / 45.72500°N 85.68333°WCoordinates: 45°43′30″N 85°41′00″W / 45.72500°N 85.68333°W |
| Area | 5.46 sq mi (14.1 km2) |
| Administration | |
| State | Michigan |
| County | Charlevoix County |
| Township | St. James Township |
| Demographics | |
| Population | Uninhabited |
High Island is an island in Lake Michigan and is part of the Beaver Island archipelago. It is 3,495 acres (14.14 km2) in size. The island is owned by the U.S. state of Michigan and is managed by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources as part of the Beaver Islands State Wildlife Management Area.
High Island got its name from a large, perched sand dune on the western side of the island. The sand, blown by the lake's prevailing winds, has piled up into a sand dune elevated 780 feet (238 m) above sea level, or 199 feet (61 m) above the level of Lake Michigan.
The island is currently uninhabited. It lies approximately four miles (6 km) west of the much larger Beaver Island.
High Island was the home of a timber-cutting and truck farm operation run in 1912-1927 by the House of David, a millenarian sect based in Benton Harbor, Michigan. The High Island farm grew large quantities of potatoes and other root crops much valued by the House of David congregation, who were vegetarians.
The House of David era created intense interest among gentile neighbors, partly because members of the sect had been required to take a vow of celibacy prior to admission. The group largely abandoned its High Island operations in 1927 as the result of a sexual scandal involving sect leader Benjamin Purnell. The House of David population of High Island, at its peak, contained 120 to 150 persons, who lived in a village near High Island Bay on the east side of the island.
Before, during, and after the House of David era, High Island was the home of several extended families of Ottawa (Odawa) Native Americans, who were fishermen. The island supported a public school as late as 1936. However, fish yield in the Beaver Island archipelago began dropping sharply in the 1930s, and after the Armistice Day Blizzard of 1940, the remaining Odawa moved to Beaver Island.
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