Tobin Harbor: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Isle Royale National Park, National Park Service

Tobin Harbor is a small resort community composed of twelve private camps and a fishery scattered across several islands at the northeast end of the Isle Royale National Park. The park is located on an island archipelago in Michigan, in the northwest section of Lake Superior. Many of the Tobin Harbor camps retain their original outbuildings and other associated structures, continuing to depict the historic landscape with a high degree of integrity. Additions and repairs have been made over the decades, yet the area continues to display its character related to the development of tourism in the region. The period of significance for the Tobin Harbor landscape is 1900 to 1939, marking the height of Isle Royale's tourism industry during which time the area was a vital summer resort community. The landscape is locally significant for its associations with movements in recreation, conservation, and community development. It also exhibits the particular architecture and building patterns typical to a rural resort community at the time. Resort styles and recreational opportunities around the Great Lakes varied, and the buildings of Isle Royale were most commonly private camps informally clustered in a community. The seasonal “camps” of Tobin Harbor represent a less opulent building style than is found in some other parts of the region. The Tobin Harbor community evolved over time as friends, families, and other seekers of the rugged scenery of Isle Royale purchased property for seasonal residences. During the peak years of the Tobin Harbor community, the Minong Lodge resort functioned as the community center of the Tobin Harbor district. Circulation, building cluster arrangement, and historic structures continue to be maintained as contributing elements of the rustic vernacular landscape. Cabins, docks, outbuildings, and views assist in conveying the historic appearance of the landscape. The district is one of the best remaining examples of this style of private resort on Isle Royale. Although some of the seasonal residences are currently unoccupied, nine camps continue to be used by life lease holders and their families during the summer. Several of the Tobin Harbor camps represent the families that strongly supported and advocated the Isle Royale National Park movement, leading to the creation of the Isle Royale Protective Association in the early 1930s. The Isle Royale National Park exemplifies environmental conservation efforts, illustrated through areas zoned as wilderness, the reliance on self-sustainable utilities using solar power and propane gas, and the 1981 designation as a National Biosphere Reserve in order to protect examples of unique ecosystems and encourage research. The park’s management plan includes documentation and management of the area’s cultural resources, such as those in Tobin Harbor, with the acknowledgement that interpreting cultural landscapes on the island are an important part of understanding and preserving the wilderness experience. Some deterioration at the Tobin Harbor camps can be attributed to neglected maintenance and extreme winter climate. The individual properties vary in condition; collectively, these properties comprise a historic district that retains high integrity, and the landscape expresses a continuum of recreational use that began during the early 20th century.

Tobin Harbor: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Isle Royale National Park, National Park Service

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