Summary
Conns Point is a GNIS-named cape on Beaver Island. The GNIS feature description records the local naming account: Cornelius “Conn” McCauley, an early settler and fisherman, kept his boat in a sheltered pond at the point. The official record also lists “Conn Point” as a variant name. This is a source-attributed naming account; the held sources do not yet establish the date of the settlement or the point’s later maritime use.
The March 1972 family account adds a separate retrospective detail: Clementine McCauley says her grandfather Conal built the family’s fishing boats at Con’s Point.1 It complements the GNIS naming account but does not establish the date, scale, or surviving location of a boatbuilding site.
Open questions
- What local or historical sources can date Cornelius McCauley’s residence and fishing activity?
- Which charts or property records define the sheltered pond and point’s changing shoreline?
Footnotes
-
Clementine McCauley, “How the Irish Came to Settle on Beaver Island,” Beaver Beacon, March 1972. ↩
Sources
- U.S. Geological Survey, Geographic Names Information System, Domestic Names (Michigan), retrieved 2026-07-28.GNIS feature 623704; feature class 'Cape'.federal · gnis · gnis_names
- USGS GNIS, Feature Descriptions (T121), retrieved 2026-07-28.Feature 623704 description names Cornelius “Conn” McCauley as an early settler and fisherman who kept his boat in a sheltered pond at the point.federal · gnis · gnis_feature_descriptions
- USGS GNIS, All Names (national), retrieved 2026-07-28.Variant names: Conn Point.federal · gnis · gnis_variant_names
- Clementine McCauley, "How the Irish Came to Settle on Beaver Island," Beaver Beacon, March 1972.Family account says her grandfather Conal McCauley built fishing boats at Con's Point; this is a retrospective naming/use attestation, not a surveyed boatyard record.