Beaver Island ArchiveA primary-source archive & encyclopedia45°40′N 85°33′W · Lake Michigan
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Dataset

Circa-1800 land-cover unit 63913: Mixed Conifer Swamp

Draft — sources verified, prose evolving

TypeDataset
Coordinates45.5855° N, 85.5745° WGoogle MapsDownload KML
WithinBeaver Island archipelago
ErasEarly American era
On this page
Dataset
Coordinates
45.5855° N, 85.5745° WGoogle MapsDownload KML
Eras
Early American era
Concepts
environmentland-surveywetlands
Within
Beaver Island archipelago

Summary

This record represents polygon 63913 in Michigan’s Land Cover Circa 1800 reconstruction. Its source label is MIXED CONIFER SWAMP, and its computed footprint is approximately 557,958.7 m² in EPSG:3078. The polygon is a data record in the environmental baseline, not a claim that the entire area had a uniform stand or that the reconstruction observes every plant community.

Evidence and limits

The layer was reconstructed from original GLO surveyors’ section-line notes. That makes it valuable for environmental history and for comparison with the survey grid, while also imposing limits: the source is a generalized historical classification, not a modern field inventory. The geometry should therefore be used with the dataset-wide caveats in Pre-settlement landscape and environmental history.

Open questions

  • Which original survey-line observations support this polygon’s classification?
  • How did later logging, farming, drainage, fire, or regrowth alter this unit?
  • Can the polygon be related responsibly to a named modern wetland, dune, or forest stand without treating a generalized boundary as an exact one?

See also

Sources

  1. Land-cover polygon OBJECTID 63913; source cover type 'MIXED CONIFER SWAMP'; computed area 557,958.7 m² in EPSG:3078. The layer is a reconstruction from original GLO surveyors' section-line notes, not a parcel or species census. The identical polygon layer is also present in the consolidated /data1 archive.
    state · michigan · land_cover_circa_1800

Added 1 August 2026. Recent changes

Cite this article

Beaver Island Archive, “Circa-1800 land-cover unit 63913: Mixed Conifer Swamp”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/documents/land-cover-circa-1800-63913/, accessed [date], citing Michigan Department of Natural Resources / Michigan Natural Features Inventory, Land Cover Circa 1800, retrieved 2026-07-28..

Last revised 2026-08-01. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.

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