Upper Peninsula of Michigan
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The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is also known as "The Upper Peninsula", "The U.P." (or "The UP"), and "Above the Bridge" by Michiganders, and is sometimes called "Northern Michigan" by non-Michiganders ("Northern Michigan" usually refers to the northern half of the Lower Peninsula, to Lower Peninsula residents).
The area is home to just 3% of Michigan's population, or about 318,000 people.
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is separated from the Lower Peninsula of Michigan by the Mackinac Straits, five miles across at its narrowest, and is connected to it only by the Mackinac Bridge. Until the bridge was completed, travel between the two peninsulas was difficult and slow (and sometimes even impossible during winter months). Car ferries ran between the two peninsulas, and at the busiest times of year the wait could stretch to hours. In winter travel was only possible over the ice after complete and solid freeze-up of the straits.
The residents of the Upper Peninsula are often called Yoopers, (from "U.P.ers"), and many consider themselves Yoopers before they consider themselves Michiganders. (People living in the Lower Peninsula are commonly called "trolls" by Yoopers, as they live "under the Mackinac Bridge.") This regionalism is not only a result of the physical separation of the two peninsulas but also the history of the area. The western portion of the U.P. had been a part of the Michigan Territory (which included all of Wisconsin and portions of Minnesota after 1819). When plans were made for Michigan to become a state, the western portion of the U.P. was not at first included. The Michigan legislature agreed to accept the western portion of the U.P. as compensation for ceding its claim to the Toledo Strip which was also claimed by Ohio in a conflict known as the Toledo War.
Ohio got the city of Toledo and a strip of land along the border with Michigan and was considered to have gotten the better end of the deal at that time. Although the U.P was considered less valuable than Toledo and the Toldeo Strip, the valuable mineral wealth in the U.P. soon became apparent.
Today, many residents of the western half of the Upper Peninsula still associate themselves with "Flatlanders," (in this context, people from Wisconsin, though the term is rarely used), possibly because the urban areas, shopping malls and Universities in Wisconsin are a much shorter drive than those in the Lower half of the State. (It is perhaps due to this association with Wisconsin that there are many fans of the Green Bay Packers in the Upper Peninsula.)
Early settlers included multiple waves of Scandinavians. There are still active Swedish and Finnish communities in many areas of the U.P. today.
There have been extremely intermittent (and not all serious) calls, quite lacking in popular support, for the Upper Peninsula to declare independence from the United States. More realistically, there is a strong movement in the Upper Peninsula for secession from the state of Michigan; secessionists propose making the peninsula into the state of "Superior" (named for Lake Superior), however such proposals are generally recognized as not economically possible for a region strongly reliant on state aid.
The Upper Peninsula is very rich in mineral deposits including iron, silver and copper. (Small amounts of gold have also been discovered.) In the 19th century mining dominated its economy and it was home to many isolated company towns. Lumbering was the other major industry. Some mines are still active today, though on a much smaller scale than 100 years ago. Because of the climate and the short growing season, there is very little agriculture in the Upper Peninsula. Tourism is the main industry. The U.P. has large tracts of state forests, Eastern arborvitae swamps, coastline, over 150 waterfalls, and very low population densities. Because of the camping, boating, fishing, hunting and hiking opportunities, many Lower Peninsula and Wisconsin families take their summer vacations there.
State prisons are located in Baraga, Marquette and Kincheloe.
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan has three state universities: Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie and Michigan Technological University in Houghton.
Larger cities of the U.P. by population
- Marquette, Michigan--19,661
- Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan--16,542
- Escanaba, Michigan--13,140
- Menominee, Michigan--9,131
- Houghton, Michigan--7,010
- Ishpeming, Michigan--6,686
- Gladstone, Michigan--5,032
Major Attractions of the U.P.:
