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 5 local stories.
10 notes
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- OutdoorsCanyon Falls: the easy US-41 gorge stopAbout eight miles south of L'Anse, a short trail from an MDOT roadside park reaches the Sturgeon River's rocky shelves and box canyon. The remote wilderness gorge is a different trip.
- History and cultureHow Baraga County got its name: the Snowshoe PriestBaraga 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 taxesIs 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.
- OutdoorsMount Arvon, the top of MichiganTucked 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 culturePequaming, the lumber town Henry Ford boughtHenry Ford bought Pequaming and 40,000 acres in 1923 to supply hardwood for Ford vehicles, and traces of the old company town remain on Keweenaw Bay.
- History and cultureThe Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and the L'Anse ReservationMuch 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.
- Home and propertyWhat to know about well and septic in Baraga CountyOutside 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 taxesLive in a Michigan village? You pay an extra layer of property taxMichigan 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 taxesBuying in a township? Watch for special assessments on top of your taxesMichigan township buyers should check for special assessments that can add separate road, sewer, water, lighting, sidewalk, or drain charges.
- Money and taxesIn Michigan, you get two property-tax bills a year — not oneMost Michigan property owners get separate summer and winter tax bills, with local rules deciding what lands on each bill.