- Eras
- Modern era
- Concepts
- toponymymaritimeenvironmentconservation
- Within
- Beaver Island · Township of Saint James
- Media
- Beaver Island History Map, 1978 revision
Summary
Gull Harbor is a named coastal locality on northeastern Beaver Island, east of the Whiskey Point light and near Sucker Point. The Beaver Beacon used the name in 1955 for water “off Gull Harbor,” while the 1978 Historical Map prints it along the shoreline.
Name, extent, and later conservation use
The surviving sources use Gull Harbor for water, shoreline, residences, and a later land-preservation project. A 1991 appeal describes the project area as east of the harbor lighthouse and says islanders also knew it as “the car wash” or Sucker Point. That wording is evidence for overlapping local usage, not proof that the harbor, point, road, protected parcel, and colloquial area have one identical boundary.
The later Gull Harbor Natural Area is modeled separately because planning and PAD-US records describe a managed land feature with inconsistent acreages. Gull Harbor Drive is likewise a road record, not the harbor itself.
No GNIS feature, legal boundary, hydrographic outline, or sufficiently precise historical coordinate has been identified, so this article does not convert the 1978 map’s label position into geometry.
Open questions
- When does “Gull Harbor” first appear in a chart, plat, deed, or newspaper?
- Did the name originally denote a bay, an anchorage, a shoreline neighborhood, or a broader locality?
- Which surveys define the later natural-area and township-property boundaries?
See also
Maps for this place
These Atlas plates provide regional context. They do not establish a precise boundary, current ownership, access right, operating status, or field condition.
- EnvironmentSoils, wetlands, hydrography, and terrain
- GeologyGeneralized geology and landforms
- HydrologyMapped water and wetland context
- AccessMapped routes, facilities, and protected areas
- Land surveyPLSS geometry and historic GLO patent-location context
The dated record
Sources
- Participants explained the local “Free Car Wash” nickname as a shallow crossing where high water could cover the road through Gull Harbor; one recalled the crossing had been out of the water for at least five to seven years. This is anecdotal local testimony, not a surveyed road, water-level series, access rule, or safety recommendation.forum · www.beaverislandforum.com · 00 · t000470
- Reports Aqua-Venturers exploring and spearing carp “off Gull Harbor,” independently attesting the coastal name by 1955. It supplies no boundary, naming history, depth, or formal harbor status. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1955-09_Beaver-Beacon
- Defines the preservation-project area as just east of the harbor lighthouse and says it was known locally as “the car wash” or Sucker Point. The appeal concerns a land-acquisition area and does not establish that Gull Harbor, Sucker Point, the later natural-area parcel, and every use of “car wash” have identical boundaries. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1991-09_Beaver-Beacon
- Described in this archive: Beaver Island History Map, 1978 revision.Prints GULL HARBOR on the northeast coast south of Sucker Point. The label independently records 1978 local usage but does not supply a surveyed water or shoreline boundary.
Added 7 August 2026. Recent changes
Cite this article
Beaver Island Archive, “Gull Harbor”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/places/gull-harbor/, accessed [date], citing Sean and Trish Scott, replies in “Cheyenne Point,” Beaver Island Forum, October 14–18, 2005. (and 3 further sources listed on the page).
Last revised 2026-08-07. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.