County note shelf
Baraga County Porch Notes
Stories, practical details, outdoor places, tax quirks, and local history connected to Baraga County. This shelf has 5 practical notes and 6 local stories.
11 notes
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- Outdoors Canyon Falls, the 'Grand Canyon of the U.P.' An easy walk off US-41 leads to Canyon Falls, where the Sturgeon River drops into a dark, sheer-walled gorge that's earned it the nickname the 'Grand Canyon of the Upper Peninsula.'
- History and culture How Baraga County got its name: the Snowshoe Priest Baraga County is named for Bishop Frederic Baraga, the 'Snowshoe Priest' who walked hundreds of winter miles to reach scattered villages, learned Ojibwe, and wrote its first dictionary. A towering shrine to him overlooks Keweenaw Bay near L'Anse.
- Money and taxes Is there a city income tax in Baraga County? There's no city income tax in Baraga County -- and there couldn't be one, since the county has no cities at all, just the villages of L'Anse and Baraga. The nearest is Grayling, well over a hundred miles away.
- Outdoors Mount Arvon, the top of Michigan Tucked in the Huron Mountains of Baraga County, Mount Arvon is the highest point in Michigan -- a quiet, forested summit at the end of a rough logging road, with a mailbox at the top for visitors to sign.
- History and culture Pequaming, the town Henry Ford bought On a bear-shaped point jutting into Keweenaw Bay, the old lumber town of Pequaming was bought whole by Henry Ford in 1923 to feed his car factories with wood. Today it's one of the U.P.'s most striking ghost towns.
- History and culture The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and the L'Anse Reservation Much of Baraga County sits on the L'Anse Reservation -- the oldest and largest in Michigan, home of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, an Ojibwe nation that has governed these shores of Keweenaw Bay for generations.
- Outdoors Canyon Falls and the 'Grand Canyon of Michigan' A short walk off US-41 near L'Anse leads to a fifteen-foot plunge into a box-walled gorge — the start of the 'Grand Canyon of Michigan,' which downstream runs a mile wide and 300 feet deep.
- Home and property What to know about well and septic in Baraga County Outside the villages, most of Baraga County is on private well and septic. Michigan has no statewide septic code, and the local health department doesn't require an inspection when a property is sold -- though it offers one that some home loans and buyers ask for.
- Money and taxes Live in a Michigan village? You pay an extra layer of property tax Michigan village residents usually pay village property taxes on top of township taxes, so the village boundary can change a buyer's total rate.
- Money and taxes Buying in a township? Watch for special assessments on top of your taxes Michigan township buyers should check for special assessments that can add separate road, sewer, water, lighting, sidewalk, or drain charges.
- Money and taxes In Michigan, you get two property-tax bills a year — not one Most Michigan property owners get separate summer and winter tax bills, with local rules deciding what lands on each bill.