Editing L'Anse Township, Michigan

{{Redirect|Summit, Michigan|the historic settlement in Washtenaw County|Salem Township, Washtenaw County, Michigan}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}

{{Infobox settlement
| official_name            = L'Anse Township, Michigan
| settlement_type          = [[Civil township]]
| nickname                 = 
| motto                    = <!-- Images -->
| image_skyline            = L'Anse Town Hall.JPG
| imagesize                = 275
| image_caption            = L'Anse Township Hall in the village of [[L'Anse, Michigan|L'Anse]]
| image_flag               = 
| image_seal               = <!-- Maps -->
| pushpin_map              = Michigan#USA
| pushpin_label_position   = right<!-- the position of the pushpin label: left, right, top, bottom, none -->
| pushpin_label            = L'Anse Township
| pushpin_map_caption      = Location within the State of Michigan##Location within the United States
| pushpin_mapsize          = 
| image_map                = L'Anse Township, MI location.png
| mapsize                  = 250
| map_caption              = Location within [[Baraga County, Michigan|Baraga County]] and the administered village of [[L'Anse, Michigan|L'Anse]] (1) and the CDP of [[Zeba, Michigan|Zeba]] (2)

<!-- Location -->| subdivision_type         = Country
| subdivision_name         = United States
| subdivision_type1        = [[U.S. state|State]]
| subdivision_name1        = [[Michigan]]
| subdivision_type2        = [[List of counties in Michigan|County]]
| subdivision_name2        = [[Baraga County, Michigan|Baraga]]
|government_footnotes     = <ref>{{cite web|last=[[Michigan Townships Association]]|url=https://michigantownships.org/find-a-township/?fips=45560|title=L'Anse Township, Baraga County, Michigan|date=2025|accessdate=January 22, 2025}}</ref>
|government_type          = 
|leader_title             = Supervisor
|leader_name              = Peter Magaraggia
|leader_title1            = [[Municipal clerk|Clerk]]
|leader_name1             = Kristin Kahler
|established_title        = Established
|established_date         = 1846
<!-- Area -->
| unit_pref                = Imperial
| area_footnotes           = 
| area_magnitude           = 
| area_total_km2           = 696.76
| area_land_km2            = 640.76
| area_water_km2           = 56.00
| area_total_sq_mi         = 269.02
| area_land_sq_mi          = 247.40
| area_water_sq_mi         = 21.62<!-- Population -->
| population_as_of         = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
| population_footnotes     = 
| population_total         = 3551
| population_density_km2   = 
| population_density_sq_mi = 14.4<!-- General information -->
| timezone                 = [[North American Eastern Time Zone|Eastern (EST)]]
| utc_offset               = -5
| timezone_DST             = EDT
| utc_offset_DST           = -4
| elevation_footnotes      = 
| elevation_m              = 416
| elevation_ft             = 1365
| coordinates              = {{coord|46|43|41|N|88|22|18|W|region:US-MI|display=inline,title}}
| postal_code_type         = [[ZIP Code|ZIP code(s)]]
| postal_code              = 49861 ([[Michigamme, Michigan|Michigamme]])<br>49908 ([[Baraga, Michigan|Baraga]])<br>49946 ([[L'Anse, Michigan|L'Anse]])<br>49962 ([[Skanee, Michigan|Skanee]])
| area_code                = [[Area code 906|906]]
| blank_name               = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
| blank_info               = 26-45560<ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=2008-01-31|title=U.S. Census website}}</ref>
| blank1_name              = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
| blank1_info              = 1626587<ref>{{GNIS|1626587}}</ref>
| website                  = {{URL|https://www.lansetownship.org/|Official website}}
| footnotes                = 
}}
'''L'Anse Township''' is a [[civil township]] of [[Baraga County, Michigan|Baraga County]] in the U.S. state of [[Michigan]]. As of the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]], the township population was 3,551.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Explore Census Data |url=https://data.census.gov/profile/L%27Anse_township,_Baraga_County,_Michigan?g=060XX00US2601345560 |access-date=2023-08-04 |website=data.census.gov}}</ref> The township contains [[Mount Arvon]] and [[Mount Curwood]], Michigans highest and second-highest points, as well as the village of [[L'Anse, Michigan|L'Anse]].

==Communities==
The [[Village (United States)|village]] of [[L'Anse, Michigan|'''L'Anse''']] is the only incorporated municipality in the township. There are some [[unincorporated community|unincorporated communities]] and historic locales:

* [[Alberta, Michigan|'''Alberta''']] is on [[U.S. Route 41 in Michigan|U.S. Highway 41]] (US 41) about {{convert|8|mi|0}} south of the village of L'Anse.
* '''Bovine''' is a small community along US 41 about {{convert|2|mi|0}} south of L'Anse
* [[Herman, Michigan|'''Herman''']] is a farming district near L'Anse.
* '''Laughs Lake''' is an unincorporated community in the township located on Lost Lake.
* [[Pequaming, Michigan|'''Pequaming''']] is on a bear-shaped point projecting into [[Keweenaw Bay]].
* '''Summit''' is a locale just south of Herman.<ref>{{cite book |title=Baraga County Michigan 2009 Plat Book|year=2009|publisher=Farm & Home Publishers LTD|page=28}}</ref><ref>{{cite gnis|639056|Summit, Michigan}}</ref> It was a station on the [[Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway]] that opened c. 1880, {{convert|10|mi|0}} southeast of L'Anse. It is named for its location near [[Mount Curwood]], which until 1982 was thought to be the highest point in Michigan.<ref name="Romig">{{cite book | last = Romig | first = Walter  | year = 1986 | title = Michigan Place Names | orig-year= 1973 | publisher = Wayne State University Press | location = Detroit, Michigan | isbn = 0-8143-1838-X}}</ref>
* [[Zeba, Michigan|'''Zeba''']] is a [[census-designated place]] located just north of the village of L'Anse.
==History==
{{Unreferenced section|date=February 2024}}
The earliest written history of the area now comprising L'Anse Township dates to October 15, 1660, with the arrival of the first European on record, French [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]] priest [[René Menard]]. Menard spent the winter in what is presently known as [[Pequaming, Michigan|Pequaming]] on [[Keweenaw Bay]], and left the area for [[Fond du Lac, Wisconsin|Fond du Lac]] the following spring, never to be heard from again. He was followed by Father Claude in 1666.

Over the next 200 years, the [[Ojibwe people|Chippewa]] tribe populated the area, and attracted the attention of trappers and traders throughout the Great Lakes. The [[American Fur Company]] established a trading post at [[Assinins, Michigan|Assinins]] by a man known only as Dubay. The [[Hudson's Bay Company]] had established a post near [[Zeba, Michigan|Zeba]] in 1836, which operated for about 15 years. Other early settlers included trappers and missionaries.

The first mission in the area was established in 1833 by a Chippewa who had converted to [[Methodism]] and taken the name of John Sunday. The first mission was located on the east side of the bay north of L'Anse at Zeba, with a second opened at Ottawa Lake in 1835. In 1834, Daniel Meeker Chandler left [[Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan|Sault Ste. Marie]] and headed west on Lake Superior by canoe. He arrived at his destination, called "Ke-Wa-We-Non", on September 3, and began mission work for the Methodist Church on the east side of Keweenaw Bay. The following summer, Chandler began cutting timber for a proposed Native American village known today as Zeba.

In 1836, a Canadian named Peter (Pierre) Crebassa was appointed as representative trader by the American Fur Company, and moved the post from its original location on the west side of the bay to a site north of L'Anse at the present day Township Park. Crebassa married a Chippewa girl, Nancy, and they were instrumental in convincing Father [[Frederic Baraga]] to establish a [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] mission, which he founded at Assinins on the west side of Keweenaw Bay in 1843.

When Michigan became the 26th state in 1837, the western two-thirds of the [[Upper Peninsula]] were included as a compromise ([[Ohio]] received the "[[Toledo Strip]]"). In March 1843, the legislature divided the Upper Peninsula into several counties. Three years later, in 1846, the act was amended to make all that part of the state "embraced between the north boundary of township 49, the line between ranges 37 and 38 west and Lake Superior, together with islands in said lake west of the county of [[Schoolcraft County, Michigan|Schoolcraft]], shall be laid off as a separate county, to be known and designated as the County of [[Houghton County, Michigan|Houghton]]." The new county included the present-day [[Keweenaw County, Michigan|Keweenaw]] and [[Baraga County, Michigan|Baraga]] counties, and was organized into three election precincts (townships) at [[Eagle Harbor Township, Michigan|Eagle Harbor]], [[Houghton, Michigan|Houghton]], and L'Anse. The following year, the area was reorganized into the townships of [[Copper Harbor, Michigan|Copper Harbor]], Eagle Harbor, [[Houghton Township, Michigan|Houghton]], [[Portage Township, Houghton County, Michigan|Portage]], Algonquin, and L'Anse, and the first election took place in July 1848.

The coming of railroads spurred growth of the village of [[L'Anse, Michigan|L'Anse]] in 1871, which prospered for a couple of years until the [[Panic of 1873]].

Algonquin and L'Anse townships combined in 1875 to form [[Baraga County, Michigan|Baraga County]], and created the townships of [[Arvon Township, Michigan|Arvon]], [[Baraga Township, Michigan|Baraga]], [[Covington Township, Michigan|Covington]], [[Spurr Township, Michigan|Spurr]] and L'Anse.

In 1896, the village of L'Anse burned to the ground, but gradually rebuilt itself into a lumber town with the arrival of the [[Ford Motor Company]] in the early 20th century.

==Geography==
According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], L'Anse Township has a total area of {{convert|696.8|km2|disp=flip}}, of which {{convert|640.8|km2|disp=flip}} is land and {{convert|56.0|km2|disp=flip}}, or 8.03%, is water.<ref name="Census 2010">{{Cite web |title=Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): L'Anse township, Baraga County, Michigan |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/G001/0600000US2601345560 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200212154643/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/G001/0600000US2601345560 |archive-date=February 12, 2020 |access-date=December 24, 2013 |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder}}</ref>

===Climate===
{{Weather box
|location = Herman, Michigan (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1968–present)
|single line=Yes
|Jan record high F = 54
|Feb record high F = 61
|Mar record high F = 78
|Apr record high F = 91
|May record high F = 93
|Jun record high F = 96
|Jul record high F = 96
|Aug record high F = 95
|Sep record high F = 95
|Oct record high F = 86
|Nov record high F = 73
|Dec record high F = 58
|year record high F = 96
|Jan high F = 19.1
|Feb high F = 23.3
|Mar high F = 34.2
|Apr high F = 46.7
|May high F = 62.1
|Jun high F = 70.8
|Jul high F = 74.8
|Aug high F = 72.8
|Sep high F = 64.5
|Oct high F = 50.4
|Nov high F = 35.6
|Dec high F = 24.2
|year high F = 48.2
|Jan mean F = 12.9
|Feb mean F = 15.0
|Mar mean F = 24.1
|Apr mean F = 36.5
|May mean F = 50.7
|Jun mean F = 60.0
|Jul mean F = 64.2
|Aug mean F = 62.4
|Sep mean F = 55.1
|Oct mean F = 42.7
|Nov mean F = 29.3
|Dec mean F = 18.6
|year mean F = 39.3
|Jan low F = 6.7
|Feb low F = 6.7
|Mar low F = 14.0
|Apr low F = 26.4
|May low F = 39.4
|Jun low F = 49.2
|Jul low F = 53.5
|Aug low F = 52.0
|Sep low F = 45.8
|Oct low F = 35.0
|Nov low F = 23.0
|Dec low F = 13.0
|year low F = 30.4
|Jan record low F = −36
|Feb record low F = −40
|Mar record low F = −35
|Apr record low F = -17
|May record low F = 12
|Jun record low F = 22
|Jul record low F = 26
|Aug record low F = 27
|Sep record low F = 11
|Oct record low F = 1
|Nov record low F = −18
|Dec record low F = −37
|year record low F = −40
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation inch = 2.21
|Feb precipitation inch = 1.82
|Mar precipitation inch = 2.28
|Apr precipitation inch = 2.87
|May precipitation inch = 3.40
|Jun precipitation inch = 3.50
|Jul precipitation inch = 4.58
|Aug precipitation inch = 3.29
|Sep precipitation inch = 4.19
|Oct precipitation inch = 4.39
|Nov precipitation inch = 3.00
|Dec precipitation inch = 2.73
|year precipitation inch = 38.26
|Jan snow inch = 47.8
|Feb snow inch = 35.0
|Mar snow inch = 27.8
|Apr snow inch = 16.4
|May snow inch = 2.2
|Jun snow inch = 0.0
|Jul snow inch = 0.0
|Aug snow inch = 0.0
|Sep snow inch = 0.2
|Oct snow inch = 8.0
|Nov snow inch = 28.7
|Dec snow inch = 41.7
|year snow inch = 207.8
|unit precipitation days = 0.01 in
|Jan precipitation days = 18.2
|Feb precipitation days = 13.7
|Mar precipitation days = 12.7
|Apr precipitation days = 12.6
|May precipitation days = 13.2
|Jun precipitation days = 12.4
|Jul precipitation days = 13.1
|Aug precipitation days = 12.3
|Sep precipitation days = 14.4
|Oct precipitation days = 16.4
|Nov precipitation days = 16.8
|Dec precipitation days = 17.9
|year precipitation days = 173.7
|unit snow days = 0.1 in
|Jan snow days = 19.2
|Feb snow days = 15.0
|Mar snow days = 10.8
|Apr snow days = 6.3
|May snow days = 1.3
|Jun snow days = 0.0
|Jul snow days = 0.0
|Aug snow days = 0.0
|Sep snow days = 0.1
|Oct snow days = 3.4
|Nov snow days = 12.1
|Dec snow days = 17.9
|year snow days = 86.1
|source 1 = [[NOAA]]<ref name= NOAA >
{{cite web
| url = https://www.weather.gov/wrh/Climate?wfo=mqt
| title = NowData - NOAA Online Weather Data
| publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
| access-date = September 2, 2021}}</ref><ref name=NCEI>
{{cite web
| url = https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/services/data/v1?dataset=normals-monthly-1991-2020&startDate=0001-01-01&endDate=9996-12-31&stations=USC00203744&format=pdf
| title = Station: Herman, MI
| work = U.S. Climate Normals 2020: U.S. Monthly Climate Normals (1991-2020)
| publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
| access-date = September 2, 2021}}</ref>
}}

==Demographics==
At the [[2020 United States census|2020 U.S. census]], the township had a population of 3,551.<ref name=":0" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book
  | title = Baragaland Bicentennial 1776-1976
  | publisher = The Lumberjacks
  | year = 1976
  | location = Baraga, Michigan }}
* {{cite book
  | title = 100 Years of History: L'Anse/Skanee Centennial
  | publisher = Baraga County Historical Society Pageant Division
  | year = 1971
  | location = Ishpeming, Michigan }}

==External links==
*[http://www.lansetownship.org/ L'Anse Township official website]

{{Baraga County, Michigan}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Townships in Baraga County, Michigan]]
[[Category:Townships in Michigan]]
[[Category:Michigan populated places on Lake Superior]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1846]]
[[Category:1846 establishments in Michigan]]