Summary
Indian Point is a GNIS-named cape on Beaver Island. Local sources place it in several different kinds of island activity. In March 1960, a 40-foot fishing tug sought shelter off the island’s northwest side and went aground at Indian Point during a Lake Michigan storm; the crew reached St. James on foot and the Coast Guard assisted the vessel.
A 1915 reminiscence published in 1964 places Father Hays’s house at Indian Point. Another local account says that the 1932 Homecoming began as a centennial celebration for Father Baraga’s Church on Indian Point and that the church site was marked by a large cross in 1964. These reports document the historical associations but do not establish the church’s surviving structure or the cross’s present condition.
The point was also a departure point for winter travel. In February 1970, a party left Indian Point by snowmobile for Whiskey Island, then continued toward Squaw and Garden Islands. The account records ice thickness and hazards rather than a permanent route. In 1967, a report grouped Indian Point with Donegal Bay and Font Lake in describing new roads and rapidly selling properties; it records contemporary development claims and mixed reactions, not a complete build-out.
Open questions
- Where exactly were Father Baraga’s Church, Father Hays’s house, and the large cross described by the 1964 report?
- Can historic charts or Coast Guard records establish the tug’s grounding position and the shoreline used by the 1970 ice expedition?
- Which roads and parcels were actually completed after the 1967 development announcement?
Sources
- U.S. Geological Survey, Geographic Names Information System, Domestic Names (Michigan), retrieved 2026-07-28.GNIS feature 629013; feature class 'Cape'.federal · gnis · gnis_names
- Beaver Beacon, April 1960, "Tug in Trouble."Reports that a 40-foot fishing tug sought shelter off the northwest part of Beaver Island and went aground at Indian Point during a March storm; the crew walked to St. James and the Coast Guard responded.
- Beaver Beacon, August 1964, Homecoming report.States that the 1932 centennial celebration honored Father Baraga's Church on Indian Point and that the first church site was marked by a large cross at the time of the 1964 report.
- Beaver Beacon, September 1964, "Know Your Neighbor."A 1915 reminiscence places Father Hays's house on Indian Point and describes Garden Island residents anchoring off Beaver Island's North or Back Beach and portaging supplies to town.
- Beaver Beacon, August 1967, "Donegal Face Lifting."Reports new roads and property sales around Donegal Bay, Font Lake, and Indian Point by American Central Land Development Corp.; it records the reported transition and mixed local reactions, not completed development.
- Beaver Beacon, February 1970, "Island Hopping."Describes a five-person snowmobile party departing Indian Point for Whiskey Island over ice measured at more than ten inches, then continuing toward Squaw and Garden Islands; the account emphasizes currents, wind, and changing ice conditions.