Presque Isle Township
| Presque Isle Township, Michigan | |
|---|---|
| Township | |
 Presque Isle Township, Michigan
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| Coordinates: 45°17′14″N 83°28′26″W / 45.28722°N 83.47389°WCoordinates: 45°17′14″N 83°28′26″W / 45.28722°N 83.47389°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Michigan |
| County | Presque Isle |
| Area | |
| • Total | 47.2 sq mi (122.2 km2) |
| • Land | 35.6 sq mi (92.2 km2) |
| • Water | 11.6 sq mi (30.0 km2) |
| Elevation | 600 ft (183 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
| • Total | 1,691 |
| • Density | 47.5/sq mi (18.3/km2) |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| ZIP code | 49777 |
| Area code(s) | 989 |
| FIPS code | 26-66340 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1626943 |
Presque Isle Township is a civil township of Presque Isle County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,376 at the 2010 census.
Presque Isle is a small unincorporated community located within Presque Isle Township along Lake Huron. It is approximately 15 miles north of Alpena, and 15 miles south of Rogers City.
The community and the township are named for Presque Isle (literally, "almost an island") which is French for "peninsula". This peninsula, for which the entire county is named, sits in the northern part of the township and is home to two historic Lighthouses. Only one narrow strip of land at the southern end of the peninsula connects it to the mainland. Sunrise and sunset over Lake Huron are both viewable from the sandy beaches along this strip of land. Presque Isle Harbor Marina, a restaurant, and a gift shop are located there as well. The community of Presque Isle is located a few miles south of this peninsula and includes a post office, seasonal gas station, chapel, community center, library, and a historic inn, the Presque Isle Lodge. The community sprung up around the homestead of John Kauffman, which currently serves as the community center. As early as the 1880s Presque Isle was frequented by hunters, fisherman, and summer vacationers and eventually the Fireside Inn, Birch Hill Hotel, and Grand Lake Hotel were built at the turn of the century to meet this demand.
The Old Presque Isle Lighthouse, built in 1840, is located at the north end of Presque Isle Harbor; according to local legend, it is haunted. The New Presque Isle Lighthouse was built in 1870 and is the tallest climbable tower on the Great Lakes. Both lighthouses have museums, open seasonally to the public. The 1870 lighthouse museum houses a beautifully preserved Third Order Fresnel Lens which remained active in the tower until recent years. Both lighthouses guided sailors to Presque Isle Harbor, the only natural harbor between Detroit and Mackinac, and a critically important wooding station on Lake Huron in the days before coal burning steamships. The many reefs and rocky shoals up and down the coast from Presque Isle Harbor are home to dozens of shipwrecks within the protected waters of Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, which now extends from Alcona County to Cheboygan County.
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