The Great Lake State: A Winter Wonderland

FUN WITH MAPS – ISSUE 2022-006 DAILY FEATURE:

By Steve Kovacs (Introduction by Chuck Gibson)

LOVELAND, OH (January 11, 2022) – In Issue 2022-006 of Steve Kovacs Fun with Maps, we celebrate the establishment of a great northern territory later to become a state bordering the north of Ohio.

SHOW ME WHERE YOU’RE FROM ON YOUR HAND

The Michigan Territory was established by an act of Congress today in 1805. It lasted until 1837 when Michigan became a state.

But the Michigan Territory was not the familiar mitten shape that the state is today.  Originally part of the Northwest Territory, the Michigan Territory was what was left after Indiana became a state.  That area included what became the future states of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and parts of the Dakotas. 

Michigan Territory changed shape 8 times in the 50 years between the Northwest Territory’s establishment and the time it became a state. 

Michigan took its now familiar shape at the time of its statehood, and all the rest of the Territory became the Wisconsin Territory.

Here is one of the odd shapes to Michigan Territory – showing much of the western shores of Lake Michigan being part of the Territory in 1822, per Carey and Lea.

Steve Kovacs and his wife Theresa reside in Loveland, Ohio where they raised their two children. He is a passionate collector of antique maps.

Visit his antique map boutique world-on-paper online. Watch for his daily feature Steve Kovacs: Antique Maps & Fun Facts here on Loveland Beacon.