Fox Islands (Lake Michigan)

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Fox Islands

Fox Islands
Geography
Location	Lake Michigan
Coordinates	45°26′32″N 85°48′36″W / 45.44222°N 85.81000°W / 45.44222; -85.81000Coordinates: 45°26′32″N 85°48′36″W / 45.44222°N 85.81000°W / 45.44222; -85.81000
Total islands	2
Area	6.65 sq mi (17.2 km2)
Highest elevation	577 ft (175.9 m)
Administration
United States
State	Michigan
County	Leelanau County
Township	Leelanau Township
Demographics
Population	Uninhabited

The Fox Islands consist of the North Fox and South Fox islands, in Lake Michigan.^[1][2] The uninhabited islands are approximately 17 miles (27 km) northwest of Cathead Point near the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula of Michigan and about 10 miles (16 km) southwest of Beaver Island. The three islands form part of an archipelago. South Fox Island Light was built in 1867 and operated until 1959. Both islands are part of Leelanau County, Michigan, and are administered by Leelanau Township.

Several shipwrecks have occurred on the Fox Islands, or the reefs adjoining them; in 1851, the Illinois was reported as a "total wreck" on the Fox Island reef,^[3] In 1860, the bark Fontanelle ran aground at the Fox Islands,^[4] and in 1861, the schooner Nightingale.^[5] In 1873, the ships Frank Perew and Magnet encountered trouble at the Fox Islands.^[6]

North Fox Island[]

North Fox (

45°28′45″N 85°46′38″W / 45.4792°N 85.7771°W / 45.4792; -85.7771 (North Fox Island)) is the smaller of the two islands, 3.32 square kilometres (3,320,000 m²; 820 acres) in area, roughly 2 miles (3.2 km) wide by 1 mile (1.6 km) long. This island was purchased by real estate magnate David V. Johnson in 1994 for $1.3 million, and the entire island was sold back to the state of Michigan for $2.2 million at the end of the year 2000. The island is currently operated as part of the Beaver Islands State Wildlife Research Area.

North Fox Island has an operational public 3,000-foot-long by 100-foot-wide turf airstrip as of 8/2015, making it accessible by general aviation. Airport designation is 6Y3.^[7] This runway is unsealed.

In the 1970s, a child pornography ring was discovered operating on North Fox Island.^[8] The proprietor of the island, Francis Shelden, with help from Dyer Grossman, Adam Starchild, and Gerald Richards, created a fraudulent charity they named Brother Paul's Children's Mission as a cover to fly boys in Shelden's private plane to his island retreat.^[9] The Detroit Free Press published a feature story in their weekend magazine on Shelden and the island,^[10] then published a second story when the crimes were uncovered.^[11] The crimes have long been suspected to have ties to the Oakland County Child Killer case.

South Fox Island[]

South Fox Island (

45°24′56″N 85°50′47″W / 45.4156°N 85.8463°W / 45.4156; -85.8463 (South Fox Island)) is 13.89 square kilometres (5.36 sq mi; 3,430 acres) in area, and about 5 miles (8.0 km) long and 1.5 miles (2.4 km) wide. As of 2001, David V. Johnson also owned about two-thirds of South Fox. The other third was owned by the state of Michigan, including the two lighthouses on the southern tip of the island. There is no ferry service to South Fox, and it has no docks, fuel or sheltered harbor. However, a private airport with a 5,500-foot (1,700 m) private runway can accommodate jet aircraft.^[12]

Two generations of the South Fox Island Light stand at the southern extremity of the island. The first, built in 1867, is a brick house with attached tower; the second, a skeletal tower, is the former Sapelo Island Light, which was moved to the site in 1934.^[13] The Fox Island Lighthouse Association (FILA), a non-profit organization, was formed in 2004 to aid in preservation of the light station structures.^[14]

Johnson built a paved runway and a residence on the southern island; the runway is about 1600 metres long. ^[15] He had originally proposed swapping North Fox Island with the state for the third of South Fox that he did not own, but he settled in 2003 for a consolidation deal which traded 218 acres (88 ha) of state owned land on the southern part of South Fox for 219 acres (89 ha) on the north and central parts of the same island. This deal was finalized in March 2003.

Johnson owns 2,204 acres (892 ha) on the isolated 3,400 acres (1,400 ha) Lake Michigan island 25 miles (40 km) west of the Leelanau County coast. South Fox Island boasts some of the most spectacular freshwater maritime scenery in the world, including towering dunes, virgin cedars, and untouched beaches.

The island includes a cemetery where members of the Grand Traverse Band of Native Americans are currently buried.

Deer were introduced onto the island in 1915. Hunting is permitted on state land by permit only.

References[]

Notes[]

Citations[]

Further reading[]

• "A Tour of the Lights of the Straits." Michigan History 70 (Sep/Oct 1986), pp. 17–29.

External links[]

• Namowitz, Dan (August 19, 2015). "Island airstrip reopens, fulfilling a promise". AOPA. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
• Beacons in the Night, Michigan Lighthouse Chronology, Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University.
• Lighthouses in the Mackinac Straits.
• Interactive map of Lights in Northern Lake Michigan, mapped by Google.
• Terry Pepper, Seeing the Light, South Fox Island Lighthouse.
• North Fox Island and South Fox Island: Blocks 2000 and 2001, Census Tract 9701, Leelanau County, Michigan United States Census Bureau