Summary
Lake Maria is a GNIS-named lake on High Island. A current OpenStreetMap snapshot contains a matching named water polygon carrying GNIS feature 631551 and tags it as a lake sourced from the National Hydrography Dataset. A local Beaver Island Net excursion account describes the surrounding remains and landscape: old cabins, a mill boiler, two DNR-built frame houses later used by gull researchers and visitors, former fields, farm equipment, and signs of wetland and beaver activity. The account is a useful local observation, but it does not establish the dates or full history of those features.
Open questions
- When were the cabins, mill, fields, and DNR houses built and abandoned?
- Which agency or property records document High Island land use and the lake’s ecological history?
Sources
- U.S. Geological Survey, Geographic Names Information System, Domestic Names (Michigan), retrieved 2026-07-28.GNIS feature 631551; feature class 'Lake'.federal · gnis · gnis_names
- OpenStreetMap contributors, natural features via Overpass API, retrieved 2026-07-28 (ODbL 1.0).Way 143508914 is named Lake Maria, tagged natural=water and water=lake, and carries GNIS feature 631551; its source tags identify the National Hydrography Dataset.osm · natural
- Beaver Island Net, “Lake Maria,” accessed through the local website capture, copyright 1999-2017.Local excursion account describes old cabins, the remains of a mill boiler, DNR frame houses later used by gull researchers and visitors, former fields, farm equipment, and wetland/beaver activity around Lake Maria on High Island.