Clam Lake Canal

Clam Lake Canal
Clam Lake Canal from M-115 (May 2017)
Location within the state of Michigan
Location	Mitchell State Park Cadillac, Michigan
Country	United States
Coordinates	44°14′22″N 85°27′13″W
Specifications
Maximum height above sea level	1,289 ft (393 m)
Status	Open
Maximum width	48 feet (14.6 m)
History
Former names	Black Creek[1]
Modern name	Cadillac Canal[2]
Current owner	Michigan DNR
Original owner	George A. Mitchell
Principal engineer	Clam Lake Improvement and Construction Company
Date completed	1873
Geography
Connects to	Lake Cadillac and Lake Mitchell (originally known as Big Clam Lake and Little Clam Lake)
Depth	2.25 feet (0.69 m)

Clam Lake Canal
Clam Lake Canal historic marker
Michigan State Historic Site
Designated	March 16, 1989

The Clam Lake Canal (sometimes called the Cadillac Canal)^[3] is a man-made canal between Lake Mitchell and Lake Cadillac in Cadillac, Michigan made by George A. Mitchell in the 1870s. The purpose of the canal was to facilitate the movement of logs to sawmills.

The canal displays an unusual water phenomenon; it is frozen over in the first part of the winter when the lakes on each side of it are unfrozen. Then when the adjacent lakes freeze, the canal remains unfrozen.

Background

Mitchell persuaded the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad to change their original route layout between the lakes, redirecting it to the eastern end of the Little Clam Lake, in the southeast corner of Wexford County, Michigan.^[4] Mitchell widened the stream to be able to float logs from one lake to the other and collect fees for the usage of the waterway.^[5]

Enlargement and current use

The Clam Lake Canal has been widened six times over the years to about 50 ft or 15 m, and is used as a recreational passage between the lakes.^[6][7] The canal was dedicated as a Michigan State Historic Site on March 16, 1989.^[2]

Freezing phenomenon

In the winter, Clam Lake Canal often displays an unusual phenomenon; it freezes over in the first part of the winter, when the lakes on each side are unfrozen.^[8] When the lakes freeze over in the mid-winter months, the canal thaws.^[8]

• 
  January 1890 – Clam Lake Canal unfrozen in winter months
• 
  February 1900 – Clam Lake Canal unfrozen
• 
  21 November 2008 – Widened Clam Lake Canal is frozen

See also

• List of Michigan State Historic Sites in Wexford County

References

1. "2 Lakes, A Canal, A Railroad, & A Bit of History". Cadillac Area Visitors Bureau. December 4, 2015. Archived from the original on December 30, 2018. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
2. "Cadillac Canal". Cadillac Area Visitors Bureau. 2018. Archived from the original on December 30, 2018. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
3. Forster 2018, p. 49.
4. Irish, Brenda (September 1, 2006). "Connected by a Canal". Michigan History Magazine. Archived from the original on February 13, 2017. Retrieved February 12, 2017.
5. Peterson, William (June 12, 1971). "Judge tells of county seat battle". Cadillac Evening News. Cadillac, Michigan.
6. Ashlee 2005, p. 518.
7. "Water". The Akron Beacon Journal. Akron, Ohio. June 13, 1993. Archived from the original on March 25, 2021. Retrieved March 25, 2021 – via newspapers.com .
8. Jager 2007, p. 11.

Sources

• Ashlee, Laura R. (2005). Traveling Through Time / A Guide to Michigan's Historical Markers. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0-472-03066-3.
• Forster, Matt (2018). Backroads & Byways of Michigan. Michigan: Countryman Press. ISBN 978-1581574944.
• Jager, Mark (2007). Mystic Michigan: Part One. Marion, Michigan: Zosma Publications. ISBN 978-1889043043. Ever since the canal was constructed in the late 1880s, people have wondered why the canal freezes over when the cold weather comes, while the lakes remain unfrozen. Later, when the lakes freeze over, the canal thaws out and remains unfrozen for the rest of the winter.

Further reading

• Tonello, Mark A. (2012). Lake Mitchell (PDF). Status of the Fishery Resource (Report). Michigan Dept. of Natural Resources. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-02-22. Retrieved 2017-03-02.