Summary
Greenes Bay is an official GNIS-named bay on Beaver Island. GNIS records the variants “Green Bay” and “Greens Bay” and attributes the name to cousins “White Dan” and “Red Dan” Greene, who settled near the bay in the 1860s. The name should not be confused with Greenes Lake, a separate nearby feature.
Local sources show the bay as both a working landscape and a residential place. A November 1971 hunting diary records travel from French Bay to Green’s Bay, observations of deer, and discussion of hunting pressure and winter browse. A September 2024 Northern Islander report places a home at Greenes Bay while describing an emergency there during a telephone outage. These sources establish local use of the name and setting without defining the bay’s private-property boundaries or implying that all of its shoreline is developed.
Open questions
- Which historic maps, deeds, or shoreline surveys define Greenes Bay’s extent?
- Can the Greene family settlement described by GNIS be connected to identified parcels or other primary records?
- How did the forms “Green Bay” and “Greens Bay” circulate relative to the official “Greenes Bay” form?
Sources
- U.S. Geological Survey, Geographic Names Information System, Domestic Names (Michigan), retrieved 2026-07-28.GNIS feature 627359; feature class 'Bay'.federal · gnis · gnis_names
- USGS GNIS, Feature Descriptions (T121), retrieved 2026-07-28.Feature 627359 description names “White Dan” and “Red Dan” Greene, cousins who settled near the bay in the 1860s.federal · gnis · gnis_feature_descriptions
- USGS GNIS, All Names (national), retrieved 2026-07-28.Variant names: Green Bay; Greens Bay.federal · gnis · gnis_variant_names
- Beaver Beacon, November 1971, hunting diary.Records a hunting party traveling from French Bay to Green's Bay, hearing shooting, seeing a doe, and discussing deer winter browse and hunting pressure.
- Northern Islander, September 2024, "Island Visitor Barely Avoids Disaster During 911 Failure."Places a resident's home at Greenes Bay and describes a medical emergency and communications failure there; it documents present residential use, not the bay's entire settled shoreline.