Glen Arbor is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, suc ...

in Glen Arbor Township, Leelanau County,

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...

, United States. A small tourist town, Glen Arbor lies on an

isthmus An isthmus (; ; ) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea counterpart of an isthmus ...

between

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...

and Glen Lake. It is adjacent to

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is a United States National Lakeshore located along the northwest coast of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan in Leelanau and Benzie counties near Empire, Michigan. The park covers a stretch of Lake Michiga ...

. Its population was 261 as of the 2020 census, up from 229 at the 2010 census. The community is located along

M-22 M-22 are a British-German DJ and producer duo consisting of Matt James and Frank Sanders. On March 22, the duo met, through a joint production, which is the reason for their stage name. History On March 22, 2015, the duo met during a joint p ...

and the

shore. Glen Arbor has a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional se ...

with ZIP code 49636.

History

The land around Glen Arbor was first inhabited by

Odawa The Odawa (also Ottawa or Odaawaa ), said to mean "traders", are an Indigenous American ethnic group who primarily inhabit land in the Eastern Woodlands region, commonly known as the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. They h ...

Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

, and

Potawatomi The Potawatomi , also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American people of the western Great Lakes region, upper Mississippi River and Great Plains. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a m ...

peoples, all members of the

Council of Three Fires The Council of Three Fires (in oj, label=Anishinaabe, Niswi-mishkodewinan, also known as the People of the Three Fires; the Three Fires Confederacy; or the United Nations of Chippewa, Ottawa, and Potawatomi Indians) is a long-standing Anishina ...

. By 1886, lumberman D.H. Day bought vast swathes of land north of Glen Lake. He had built a sawmill on the nearby Crystal River, and developed the nearby town of Glen Haven, which led to the growth of Glen Arbor. By the 1900s, the area was recognized as a tourist mecca. In 1971, much of Day's former land was converted to

Etymology

Glen Arbor's name was coined by the wife of one of the area's early settlers. It is a combination of Glen Lake and

grapevines ''Vitis'' (grapevine) is a genus of 79 accepted species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The genus is made up of species predominantly from the Northern Hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes ...

that adorned trees in the area.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the community has an area of , of which is land and is water. Glen Arbor is bordered to the south by the shores of Glen Lake, to the west by the

, and to the north by

. Meandering to the east of the town, the Crystal River intersects many roads and hiking trails before terminating in

Major highways

* , a famous highway which runs along the picturesque

coast, runs through the heart of Glen Arbor to the south and east. * , which connects M-22 with part of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, enters the town from the west, and ends at a junction with M-22 in downtown Glen Arbor.

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

of 2010, there were 229 people living in the township. The population density was . There were 1,617 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 98.69%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, 0.44%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.44% Asian, and 0.44% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race were 1.31% of the population. The gender gap of the town was almost split evenly, with females accounting for 53.71% and males for 46.29% of the population. In the township the population was spread out, with 11.79% under the age of 18, 45.85% from 18 to 64, and 42.36% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 53 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.0 males. The median income for a household in the township was $46,719, and the median income for a family was $58,571. Males had a median income of $35,114 versus $30,179 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the township was $29,070. About 1.5% of families and 5.1% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 6.0% of those under age 18 and 2.0% of those age 65 or over.

Gallery

File:Sleepingbearbay.jpg, Sleeping Bear Bay File:Frank E. Fisher Store.jpg, Frank E. Fisher store File:Glenlakenarrows.jpg, Big Glen Lake File:Glen Arbor Roller Mills.jpg, The Glen Arbor Roller Mills, once a

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enou ...

File:GlenLakeInspirationPoint.jpg, Big Glen Lake from the south, with Glen Arbor visible near the center-right

References

Unincorporated communities in Leelanau County, Michigan Unincorporated communities in Michigan Census-designated places in Leelanau County, Michigan Census-designated places in Michigan {{LeelanauCountyMI-geo-stub