Summary
Barneys Lake is a named inland lake in Beaver Island’s northern interior. GNIS records “Barney Lake” as a variant and preserves a feature-history note associating the name with Barney O’Donnell; that naming claim remains a GNIS record rather than a separately verified biography here.
The 2023 Beaver Island Master Plan describes the lake as approximately 45 acres and primarily owned by the Little Traverse Conservancy, with a small southern portion under other ownership. It calls the lake a premier fishing location, though highly eutrophic, with limited yellow-perch and rock-bass fishery; it also records past stocking of largemouth and smallmouth bass, continued habitat for bass, northern pike, and sunfish, and a low-impact Conservancy launch on the southeastern shore.
Open questions
- Can the GNIS Barney O’Donnell naming note be checked against land records or the Journal of Beaver Island History?
- When did the Little Traverse Conservancy acquire its holdings and establish the public launch?
- What water-quality or fisheries monitoring supports the Master Plan’s eutrophic classification?
Sources
- U.S. Geological Survey, Geographic Names Information System, Domestic Names (Michigan), retrieved 2026-07-28.GNIS feature 620628; feature class 'Lake'.federal · gnis · gnis_names
- USGS GNIS, Feature Descriptions (T121), retrieved 2026-07-28.Feature 620628 description names Barney O’Donnell as an early settler and owner of land around the lake.federal · gnis · gnis_feature_descriptions
- USGS GNIS, All Names (national), retrieved 2026-07-28.Variant names: Barney Lake.federal · gnis · gnis_variant_names
- Beaver Island Master Plan, 2023 update.Describes Barney’s Lake as about 45 acres, primarily owned by Little Traverse Conservancy, with a limited bass and perch fishery and a low-impact public launch on the southeastern shore.