A Garden Apart: An Agricultural and Settlement History of Michigan's Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Region
Haswell SO and Alanen AR. 1994. A Garden Apart: An Agricultural and Settlement History of Michigan's Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Region. Cultural Landscape - Miscellaneous. United States Government Printing Office; NPS Midwest Regional Office; State Historic Preservation Office, Michigan Bureau of History. Midwest Regional Office
This report studies the an agricultural and settlement history of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore of Michigan, National Park Service region, located in the northwestern corner of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. The National Lakeshore, created in 1970, is best known for its distinctive natural features, although the area also includes many significant cultural resources. A number of these are associated with agricultural development in the region. Euro-American settlers were drawn to the Sleeping Bear region during the late 1840s for its abundant timber resources and proximity to the Great Lakes shipping routes. Encountering Native Americans and their long-standing subsistence practices on the landscape, the Euro-American settlers combined their own farming methods and technologies with the region’s unique traditions and potential. Gradually, the subsistence lifestyle would give way to expanding industry, influenced by cultural and economic changes such as the Civil War, the passage of the Homestead Act and increased immigration, and improved transportation systems. As forest resources dwindled in the late 1800s, more residents turned to agriculture and tourism. Continuing developments in the region’s agricultural practices reflect broader national changes; for example, electricity and hybridization changed the way farming was practiced during the first half of the 1900s. Today, the region is still characterized by farming and orchard districts, and fruit farming is the primary agricultural pursuit. The land use continues to change with the conversion of agricultural land for recreational and scenic purposes, giving the preserved farmsteads of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore an even greater significance as cultural resources. Three areas of study are presented: the influence of environmental factors (geology, soils, vegetation, and climate); the settlement patterns (10,000 years ago to present); and the history of agricultural practices. The report includes maps, tables, photographs, and figures showing landforms, existing structures, population demographics, and historic scenes. The primary purpose of this overview is to provide contextual information that can be used to interpret the region’s agricultural history.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Haswell, Susan; Alanen, Arnold
- Date of Issue
- 1994
- Publisher
- United States Government Printing Office; NPS Midwest Regional Office; State Historic Preservation Office, Michigan Bureau of History
- Units
- HIST , MWR , SLBE
- Keywords
- Agricultural District, Agriculture, Agriculture, Benzie County, Cherry Farming, Civil War, Cultural Resources, forest industry, Fruit Industry, Fur Trade, Geography, Grand Traverse, Homestead Act, Hybridization, immigration, Lake Michigan, Land Use, Leelanau County, Logging Industry, Map, maple sugar, Michigan, Michigan Agricultural College, Neotechnic Agriculture, North Manitou Island, Orchard, Paleotechnic Agriculture, Photograph, Physical Sciences, Propagation, Railroad, Recreation, Scientific Agriculture, Settlement, Settlement, Soil Conservation, Soils, South Manitou Island, Subsistence Agriculture, Tourism, Transportation
- Subjects
- CRIS-CL: 975462: Glen Haven , CRIS-CL: 975588: North Manitou Island - Bournique Homestead , CRIS-CL: 975586: North Manitou Island - Cottage Row , CRIS-CL: 500330: North Manitou Island Life-Saving Station , CRIS-CL: 500329: North Manitou Island Village Historic District , CRIS-CL: 500003: Port Oneida Rural Historic District , CRIS-CL: 975856: Sleeping Bear Point Life-Saving Station , CRIS-CL: 501196: South Manitou Island Lifesaving Station , CRIS-CL: 450004: South Manitou Island Light Station