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

Grape Island

Draft — sources verified, prose evolving

Locator map: Grape Island highlighted within the Beaver Island archipelago
Locator plate © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0); depths NOAA; names USGS GNIS. How the plates are drawn.
TypeIsland
Coordinates45.7800° N, 85.4206° WGoogle MapsDownload KML
WithinBeaver Island archipelago
ErasModern era
On this page
Locator map: Grape Island highlighted within the Beaver Island archipelago
Locator plate © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0); depths NOAA; names USGS GNIS. How the plates are drawn.
IslandGNIS 627164
Coordinates
45.7800° N, 85.4206° WGoogle MapsDownload KML
Eras
Modern era
Concepts
environmentwildlifebirdsconservationmaritime
Within
Beaver Island archipelago

Summary

Grape Island is a GNIS-named island in the Beaver Island archipelago. The current OpenStreetMap island snapshot contains a matching polygon relation (2203894) carrying GNIS feature 627164 and calculates an area of approximately 0.09 km². This establishes current mapped identity and geometry; the island’s name origin, ownership, ecology, and local history remain open.

Ecological profile

Grape Island has a small but important legacy bird record. The 1993 MNFI statewide island table lists Common Tern (Sterna hirundo), Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus), and a Great Blue Heron rookery for Grape Island. The 1999 MNFI progress report adds an important qualification: a previously known nesting site near Grape Island was not visited during the Hog Island survey, so that entry is evidence of a documented survey gap rather than a new Grape Island observation. Current mapping and the DNR parcel layer provide spatial and management context, but neither establishes the rookery’s present status, colony size, habitat condition, or a complete animal/vegetation inventory.1

Open questions

  • Who or what gave Grape Island its name?
  • What federal, state, or private ownership and habitat records apply to the island?

Footnotes

  1. Soule, Biodiversity of Michigan’s Great Lakes Islands (1993), Charlevoix County island table; MNFI, 1999 Progress Report (2000), Hog Island/Baldimore Bay record; Michigan DNR parcel 2022349. ↩

Maps for this place

These Atlas plates provide regional context. They do not establish a precise boundary, current ownership, access right, operating status, or field condition.

  • EnvironmentSoils, wetlands, hydrography, and terrain
  • GeologyGeneralized geology and landforms
  • HydrologyMapped water and wetland context
  • AccessMapped routes, facilities, and protected areas
  • Land surveyPLSS geometry and historic GLO patent-location context

Sources

  1. Area 0.09 km² computed in EPSG:3078.
    osm · islands
  2. Judith D. Soule, *Biodiversity of Michigan’s Great Lakes Islands: Knowledge, Threats and Protection*, MNFI Report 1993-10 (1993).
    Described in this archive: Soule, Biodiversity of Michigan's Great Lakes Islands, 1993.
    The Charlevoix County island table lists Common Tern, Double-crested Cormorant, and a Great Blue Heron Rookery for Grape Island. The text extraction is discovery/search support; the report is statewide and the row is a legacy record, not a current colony census or habitat map. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    research · wildlife · mnfi_biodiversity_great_lakes_islands_1993
  3. MNFI, *Biological Inventory For Conservation of Great Lakes Islands: 1999 Progress Report*, Report No. 2000-11 (2000).
    Described in this archive: MNFI Great Lakes Islands 1999 progress report crosswalk.
    The report’s Hog Island entry says a previously known nesting site near Grape Island was not visited. This is a survey-gap/context statement, not a 1999 observation on Grape Island. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    research · wildlife · indices · mnfi_great_lakes_islands_1999_inventory_index
  4. Described in this archive: Michigan DNR parcel record 2022349.
    The parcel record describes a 10-acre Wildlife Division parcel with legal-description text “Grape Island in Lake Michigan (CCN 003).” It is a management/geometry record, not a complete ownership chain or ecological inventory.
    state · michigan · dnr_parcels
  5. Project-generated outer-island and legacy ecology evidence index (2026).
    Described in this archive: Outer-island and legacy ecology evidence index.
    Provides the connected ecology-index context and preserves source-specific limits; it does not create a Grape Island population estimate. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    research · wildlife · indices · outer_island_ecology_evidence_index

Added 28 July 2026 · revised 3 August 2026. Recent changes

Cite this article

Beaver Island Archive, “Grape Island”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/places/grape-island/, accessed [date], citing OpenStreetMap contributors, island polygons via Overpass API, retrieved 2026-07-28 (ODbL 1.0). (and 4 further sources listed on the page).

Last revised 2026-08-03. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.

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