1972 Map of Hardwood Island

About this map

The Soo Line railroad cuts a straight path across the Upper Peninsula's forested interior in this early 1970s survey of the border between Luce and Schoolcraft counties. This landscape is defined by its complex hydrology, where the East Branch Tahquamenon River and several smaller creeks wind through the Tahquamenon State Forest. To the south, the shoreline of Manistique Lake and North Manistique Lake provides a focal point for local activity, including the landing at Carpenter Landing and the West Lakefield Cem. The terrain reveals a transition from the open Danaher Plains in the north to the glacial features like Hardwood Island, which rises above the surrounding wetlands. This map documents a period when logging and gravel extraction, evidenced by various Gravel Pits, operated alongside the region's expanding recreational and state forest lands.