Fun U.P. Facts ... 1. The Iron Ore, an Upper Peninsula newspaper, was sued for slander by Teddy Roosevelt. An editorial piece, called “The Teddy Way” accused him of getting drunk “not infrequently.” His winning sum? 6 cents or in his words “The cost of a good newspaper.” 2. Isle Royale National Park is the least visited national park in the country. A single day in Yosemite sees more visitors than this park in an entire year. Most likely due to the fact that the visitors average stay at this national park is 3.5 days, with every other parks average visit being around 4 hours. 3. You can take a stroll through Paradise. Seriously! It’s a city here. (Yoopers might be a little smug over the fact that Paradise is in the U.P., while “Hell” is in the Lower Peninsula). 4. Do you like a good spook? Paulding Light is a light that appears just outside of Paulding and has been since the 60s. Local legend states that there were once railroad tracks in the area and the light is the lantern of a brakeman killed while attempting to stop an oncoming train 5. Driving through Grand Marais, you shouldn’t be startled when you come across a cabin resembling two pickle barrels. The Pickle Barrel house was designed based on the cartoon characters “The Teenie Weenies” for the cartoon’s creator. 6. The word Yooper was first published in 1979 and added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary (finally) in 2014. 7. The oldest and largest lava flow known on Earth is located on the Keweenaw Peninsula. This volcanic activity helped to produce the copper the region is infamous for. 8. With 8.8 million acres of forest in the Upper Peninsula (out of Michigan’s total of 10.5 million), 84% of the Upper Peninsula is covered by forest. Including… 9. The most extensive area of old growth northern hardwood forest west of the Adirondack Mountains, located in the Porcupine Mountains, spans around 31,000 acres. Not only that, the Porcupine Mountains themselves are part of the oldest mountain chain in the world 10. There is also the Sylvania Wilderness, which is home to many old-growth forests and 34 lakes. It is one of only a handful of areas of its kind in the Midwest. 11. The entire Upper Peninsula has one area code, 906, and every zip code begins with 49---. 12. Which is probably because the Upper Peninsula has 3.16% of Michigan’s population and only about a third of Michigan’s land mass. 13. Lake Superior, the largest of the Great Lakes, is also the largest freshwater lake in the world when measured by surface area. Not only that, it contains about 10% of the fresh water in the world. That’s right, THE WORLD. 14. The Upper Peninsula boasts more than 3,000 miles of groomed snowmobile trails. If you were to lay them out into one continuous stretch, it would be like snowmobiling from Orlando, Florida to Seattle, Washington. 15. Pictured Rocks is the first officially designated National Lakeshore in the United States. 16. Sault Ste. Marie was founded in 1668, making it the 3rd oldest remaining settlement in the United States. Walking throughout the city is almost like strolling through history. 17. The Upper Peninsula was referred to as a “sterile region on the shores of Lake Superior destined by soil and climate to remain forever a wilderness” by the U.S. Congress in 1837. Of course, they were proven wrong with the mining boom. Interestingly enough, they continue to leave it off of official United States maps. 18. Houghton is home to two jovial world records–the largest snowball and the largest snowball fight. They claimed these records in 2006 as part of the annual Winter Carnival put on by Michigan Technological University. 19. The Upper Peninsula has more than 100 waterfalls, and those are the only ones that have been noted on the state map. Some of the larger falls include Laughing Whitefish, Munising, Wagner, and Tahquamenon. 20. In fact, the Upper Peninsula has 12,000 miles of rivers and streams and 4,300 inland lakes. It’s practically impossible to not be near a body of water. 21. In Crystal Falls, there is an annual festival dedicated to the discovery of a giant fungus in a nearby forest in 1992. This fungus, an Armillaria bulbosa, covered more than 30 acres and had an estimated mass of 100 tons. It’s only fitting that the festival is titled “Humungus Fungus Fest.” 22. Ghost towns are plentiful in the Upper Peninsula, but none have been as well preserved as Fayette. Now a historic Park, Fayette Historic State Park (or Fayette Ghost Town, choose your favorite name) is a living museum that shows what life was like in the area during the 19th century. 23. There is only one Interstate highway in the Upper Peninsula. I-75 runs from Sault Ste. Marie to St. Ignace and travels across the bridge into the Lower Peninsula. 24. Copper Harbor is the farthest town from an interstate highway in the continental United States with a distance of 251 miles. The nearest interstate is Interstate 39 in Rothschild, Wisconsin. 25. The Upper Peninsula is home to the highest concentration of Finns outside of Europe. Yoopers have the Finnish to thank for their beloved sauna. 26. Millie Mine, in Iron Mountain, is one of the largest bat hibernacula in the Midwest. Around 25,000-50,000 bats call this place home during the winter. 27. Since the ‘70s many residents have supported the idea of the Upper Peninsula seceding from the Michigan and becoming its own state, Superior. 28. Michigan’s largest natural freshwater spring, Kitch-iti-kipi, offers pristine, clear views of the underlying limestone and boasts a deep emerald bottom. 29. The Pine Mountain Ski Jump is one of the highest man-made ski jumps in the world. Located in Iron Mountain, it hosts annual jumping competitions. 30. Some areas can get more than 25 feet of snowfall per year. The resilient folks in the Keweenaw Peninsula have a giant sign marking the snowfall. 31. Being a region known for its snowfall, it’s only natural that the birthplace of organized skiing in the United States as well as the United States Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame and Museum call the Upper Peninsula home. Ishpeming, to be specific. 32. Little Bay De Noc, which borders the Upper Peninsula towns Gladstone and Escanaba, has over 30 sunken ships. 33. Michigan’s highest point, Mount Avron, at 1,979 feet above sea level, is located in the Upper Peninsula. 34. The film, “Anatomy of a Murder,” dramatizes a 1952 murder that happened in the Marquette area. Subsequently, it was partially filmed in the Marquette County Courthouse as well as Big Bay. 35. The Soo Locks, referred to as one of the great wonders of the world, are the largest waterway traffic systems in the world. These world-famous locks are the busiest in the world as well. 36. The Seney Stretch is the longest curveless section of highway in Michigan, and one of the longest east of the Mississippi River. Talk about highway hypnosis. 37. Copper Peak, in Ironwood, is the only ski flying facility in the Western Hemisphere. While the last jump was held in 1994, it is still open to the public and boasts amazing views when at the top. https://facebook/photo.php?fbid=194423121993&set=pb.160789056993.-2207520000.1406053584.&type=3&theater Source: Copper Peak Ski Jump Facebook 38. Bird watchers flock to the Upper Peninsula as there are nearly 400 different species of birds. 39. At 325 miles, the distance between the two ends of the Upper Peninsula is longer than the distance of the Ohio-Michigan border to the Mackinac Bridge. The distance from the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula to the southernmost point in the U.P. is 125 miles. 40. You’ve heard the old adage, don’t yell “Fire” in a crowded theater. Unfortunately, in Calumet, it was exemplified with the Italian Hall Disaster of 1913. 73 people died trying to escape a program being held in the upstairs when “Fire” was yelled – and there was no fire. 41. Between L’Anse and Baraga stands a 28-foot tall, copper statue of the Snowshoe Priest, Frederic Baraga. Baraga was the first Bishop of the Upper Peninsula and helped the Chippewa to develop their written dictionary, which is still used today. 42. Lake Gogebic is the largest inland lake in the Upper Peninsula, measuring fourteen miles long and two and half miles wide. 43. The Upper Peninsula is very regional, due to the physical separation from the rest of the state and the history of the area. From local delicacies like pasties and cudighi to the distinct dialect, to the preference of being called Yoopers before Michiganders, the extreme regionalism is definitely brought out in a variety of ways. 44. The Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve is one of the last places to observe shipwrecks without any of the nasty invasive zebra mussel encrustations. It is known for deep, well preserved shipwrecks in clear water. 45. While most of Michigan lies in the Eastern Time Zone, there are four counties in the Upper Peninsula that lie in the Central Time Zone. Those counties are Iron, Dickinson, Gogebic, and Menominee. 46. Here’s a fact not for the squeamish: “Lake Superior seldom gives up her dead.” Due to the unusually low temperature of the water the bacteria that generate gas inside the body and cause it to float are inhibited. 47. The Chapin Mine Steam Pomp Engine, in Iron Mountain, is the largest reciprocating steam-driven engine ever built in the U.S. 48. Finlandia University in Hancock is the only college in America with Finnish roots 49. In 1975 the SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank in Lake Superior. When launched in 1958, she was the largest ship on the Great Lakes and remains the largest to have sunk. The Fitzgerald was endeared to boat watchers and immortalized in a song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” by Gordon Lightfoot.
Posted on: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 13:51:46 +0000
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