Escanaba, Michigan

49829

Escanaba, located on the northwestern shores of Lake Michigan on Little Bay De Noc, is the Delta county seat and the second largest community in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Its economic support is derived from taconite stockpiling, iron ore shipping, paper products manufacturing, wood products, packaging materials and engine re-building. Tourism, especially in the area of fishing and water sports, is also a factor. There are dozens of motels and resorts in the area, an ideal starting point to visit the greater western portion of the U.P.

Derived from the Chippewa word "Escanowba," meaning "flat rock," the name refers to the flat bed of rock in the "…rushing Escanowba" River, which is mentioned in Longfellow’s "Hiawatha." A post office with the Escanowba name opened here in 1853 with Alden Chandler as the first postmaster. The Chicago & Northwestern RR saw potential for an iron ore dock which they built here in 1863. R. A. Connolly, the builder, put up the first frame house the same year and also built a hotel. The lighthouse was built in 1867, a year after the town was incorporated as a village. It was reincorporated as a city in 1883.