Coming Through With Rye: An Historic Agricultural Landscape Study of South Manitou Island at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Michigan

Wheeler Williams, Brenda; Alanen, Arnold; Tishler, William

South Manitou Island is a rural historic landscape district within Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, located at the eastern edge of Lake Michigan. The island is characterized by a deep harbor at its eastern edge, village and lighthouse in the southeast, sand dunes, interior forests, and historic farm sites. The use of the landscape for agriculture, natural resource extraction, and recreation--all of which occurred prior to the 1970 establishment of the Lakeshore--has left indelible imprints on the landscape. At the time of this publication, a movement had begun toward increased awareness and appreciation of America’s vernacular cultural landscapes. Since the 1980s, the National Park Service (NPS) has been a leading organization in this effort, leading to the adoption of new management techniques for those park properties where human-landscape interaction has been especially significant. The task of identifying the cultural traces that are significant and worthy of preservation and interpretation is a challenge for NPS managers. Determining the most appropriate management goals for historic landscapes in the National Park system is a complicated task that often involves making comparisons between two distinct resource management worldviews, requiring integrated decision-making efforts in order to preserve both natural and cultural landscape resources. To help the Lakeshore staff confront these challenges, the Midwest Region of the NPS has sponsored several projects focusing on the historic agricultural landscapes at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. This layered history is also one of the island’s greatest assets; it contains various natural and cultural resources, including pre-settlement landscape, ruins and evidence of early settlement, signs of agricultural development periods, and views of the farmed landscape’s return to second growth forest. These examples are intertwined and overlapping, providing visitors with an understanding of the changes that have shaped and continue to shape the landscape. The overall purpose of this report is to document and make a comprehensive evaluation of the historic agricultural landscape components and patterns at South Manitou Island. The report focuses upon extant agricultural resources remaining on the island by: 1) identifying and documenting its significant historic/cultural landscape resources; and 2) evaluating the interpretive potential of these resources as they relate to agricultural history in the region. In addition, the project considers the historic relationships that existed between islanders and the land, but which are no longer apparent in its natural features. The objectives outlined in the report are meant to provide a basis for determining which of the island’s resources are primary—i.e., possess the highest level of significance, integrity, and potential for thematic interpretation—and which properties are eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. The South Manitou Island Historic Agricultural District's period of significance is 1838 to 1940 in areas of agriculture, exploration and settlement, and science. The landscape is most associated with the transformation of rural agriculture from a "general" farming approach to scientific agriculture. In addition, the island also includes resources connected to maritime history and early tourism. Report includes: Cultural landscapes (definitions and types); physiographic and geographic context; agricultural history; description and analysis of individual farmsteads; assessment of landscape characteristics; evaluation of the study area; and landscape management alternatives. Contains maps showing location, major physical and cultural features, soils, vegetation, 1874 survey map, claims, historic sites, and individual farmsteads. Associated photographs.

Coming Through With Rye: An Historic Agricultural Landscape Study of South Manitou Island at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Michigan

Series