Evolution of Michigan's Legal Boundaries

The Green Bay Channel & Islands

The 1836 boundary description described the line through northwest Lake Michigan as “the most usual ship channel”. This description needed clarification as two routes were in use. The Supreme Court decision chose the northernmost ship channel, in which Michigan lost the intervening water area and four islands: Plum, Detroit, Washington, and Rock. The Michigan-Wisconsin boundary was finally settled and described in full March 16, 1936 in Wisconsin v Michigan 297 US 547.

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