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Interlochen ( ') is an
unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
and
census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), 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 counte ...
(CDP) in
Grand Traverse County Grand Traverse County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the population was 95,238, making it the largest county in Northern Michigan. Its county seat is Traverse City. The county is part of the Trav ...
in the U.S. state of
Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
. At the 2020 census, the population was 694, up from 583 at the 2010 census. The community is located within Green Lake Township, and is home to a post office operating with ZIP Code 49643. The community is home to the
Interlochen Center for the Arts Interlochen Center for the Arts ( '; also known as I.C.A. or Inty) is a Nonprofit organization, non-profit corporation which operates Visual arts education, arts education institutions and Music venue, performance venues. Established in 1928 b ...
and also contains
Interlochen State Park Interlochen State Park is a public recreation area covering on the isthmus between Green Lake (Grand Traverse County, Michigan), Green Lake and Duck Lake (Grand Traverse County, Michigan), Duck Lake in Grand Traverse County, Michigan, Grand Tra ...
between the shores of Duck Lake and Green Lake. Interlochen is a designated
Michigan State Historic Site The Michigan State Historic Preservation Office is one of 59 state historic preservation offices established according to the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 that plays a role in implementing federal historic preservation policy in th ...
.


History

Interlochen takes its name from the
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
"''inter''", meaning "between", and the
Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...
"''lochan''", meaning lakes. Before the arrival of European settlers, members of the
Odawa The Odawa (also Ottawa or Odaawaa ) are an Indigenous North American people who primarily inhabit land in the Eastern Woodlands region, now in jurisdictions of the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. Their territory long prec ...
people lived between the lakes they called ''Wahbekaness'' and ''Wahbekanetta'' (now named Duck Lake and Green Lake, respectively). Beginning in the late 19th century, European settlers began
logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidder, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or trunk (botany), logs onto logging truck, trucksfishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...
industries in the area, and founded the small village of Wylie, one mile south of present-day Interlochen. Because of logging, the
Manistee and North-Eastern Railroad The Manistee and North-Eastern Railroad Railway Equipment and Publication CompanyThe Official Railway Equipment Register June 1917, p. 579 was a short, standard-gauge line in the U.S. state of Michigan. Organized in 1887, it served several counti ...
(owned by the Buckley and Douglas Lumber Company of Manistee) extended its line north from Nessen City and arrived between the lakes in the fall of 1889. Similarly, the
Chicago and West Michigan Railway The Chicago and West Michigan Railway (C&WM) is a defunct railroad which operated in the state of Michigan between 1881 and 1899.Baldwin Baldwin may refer to: People * Baldwin (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname Places Canada * Baldwin, York Regional Municipality, Ontario * Baldwin, Ontario, in Sudbury District * Baldwin's Mills, ...
on its way to
Traverse City Traverse City ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Grand Traverse County, although it partly extends into Leelanau County. The city's population was 15,678 at the 2020 census, while the four-county Traverse C ...
in 1890. The two lines crossed in current-day downtown Interlochen where a depot and
interlocking In railway signalling, an interlocking is an arrangement of signal apparatus that prevents conflicting movements through an arrangement of tracks such as junctions or crossings. In North America, a set of signalling appliances and tracks inte ...
tower were located. The original townsite, however, was platted just south of the depot along either side of the M&NE rail line in late 1889 or early 1890, with the business district centering on the now-former M-137 and Riley Rd/10th Street. As the lumber industry grew, the area became more deforested. However, it was predicted from the beginning that the area would become a popular summer resort, and so Buckley and Douglas set aside 186 acres of virgin pines between Duck and Green lakes for preservation. The result was Pine Park, a public retreat boasting virgin forests and pristine lakes. A small railroad depot named Pine Park Station was built. Visitors began flocking to the region during the warmer months to camp, fish, boat, and escape the heat of the crowded cities. Piggybacking on the vacation boom, local businessman Willis Pennington purchased land adjacent to Pine Park on the banks of Green Lake and opened the Pennington Hotel in 1909. In the mid-1910s, local representatives became worried that Pine Park would soon be logged off and so they lobbied the
Michigan Legislature The Michigan Legislature is the legislature of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is organized as a bicameral body composed of the Senate (the upper chamber) and the House of Representatives (the lower chamber). Article IV of the Michigan Con ...
for help. The state ultimately allocated $60,000 in 1917 to purchase the property, and the newly acquired parkland was dedicated as The Pines, later renamed
Interlochen State Park Interlochen State Park is a public recreation area covering on the isthmus between Green Lake (Grand Traverse County, Michigan), Green Lake and Duck Lake (Grand Traverse County, Michigan), Duck Lake in Grand Traverse County, Michigan, Grand Tra ...
, the first
state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "Federated state, state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on accou ...
organized by the state of Michigan (
Mackinac Island Mackinac Island ( , ; ; ; ) is an island and resort area, covering in land area, in the U.S. state of Michigan. The name of the island in Odawa is Michilimackinac and "Mitchimakinak" in Ojibwemowin, meaning "Great Turtle". It is located in ...
was originally a national park before becoming Michigan's first state park in 1895). In 1928, the National High School Orchestra Camp was founded by
Joseph E. Maddy Joseph Edgar Maddy (October 14, 1892 – April 18, 1966) was an American music educator and conductor. Early life He was born in Wellington, Kansas on October 14, 1892. Both of his parents were teachers. He attended Wichita College of Music i ...
just south of Interlochen, and evolved to become
Interlochen Center for the Arts Interlochen Center for the Arts ( '; also known as I.C.A. or Inty) is a Nonprofit organization, non-profit corporation which operates Visual arts education, arts education institutions and Music venue, performance venues. Established in 1928 b ...
, which includes a summer camp as well as an arts boarding high school and public radio station. The camp has expanded to both sides of J. Maddy Parkway (previously designated as a highway, M-137, in 1930 but decommissioned in 2020,), and enveloped the entire village of Wylie. By the late 20th century, the railroads that brought students, vacationers, and lumber through Interlochen, had been removed. The north-south M&NE railroad was removed in 1934, and the west-east C&WM railroad (
Pere Marquette Railway The Pere Marquette Railway was a railroad that operated in the Great Lakes (North America), Great Lakes region of the United States and southern parts of Ontario in Canada. It had trackage in the states of Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and the Canadi ...
after 1899) removed in 1982. The area remains a popular vacation spot, with hiking, fishing, camping, boating, swimming, cross country skiing, and snowmobiling the most popular activities. The community of Interlochen was listed as a newly organized
census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), 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 counte ...
for the 2010 census, meaning it now has officially defined boundaries and population statistics for the first time.


Geography

According to the
U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, 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 U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...
, the CDP has a total area of , of which is land and (2.36%) is water. Interlochen is located within the
Betsie River The Betsie River ( ') is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed November 21, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Michigan. The river is located in the northwestern Lower Peninsu ...
watershed.


Public education

Interlochen is zoned within the
Traverse City Area Public Schools Traverse City Area Public Schools (TCAPS; ) is a Public school (government funded), public school district based in Traverse City, Michigan, United States. This district includes 10 Primary school, elementary schools, 2 middle schools, 2 Se ...
district (TCAPS). The nearest public high school is Traverse City West Senior High School. Prior to 2016, elementary school students were able to attend Interlochen Elementary School, part of TCAPS. With the closure of that school, the nearest public elementary schools are Blair Elementary School near Grawn, and Silver Lake Elementary School and Westwoods Elementary School near Traverse City.


Media

Interlochen is home to 88.7 WIAA, which is run by the Interlochen Center for the Arts and operates as Northern Michigan's
National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
affiliate.


Transportation


Major highways

* runs west–east through the northern portion of the community. *, known now as J. Maddy Parkway, is a former state highway that was commissioned from 1930 to 2020.


Public transportation

Interlochen is served by Traverse City's public transportation system, the Bay Area Transportation Authority (BATA) which serves most of the Grand Traverse region with
dial-a-ride Demand-responsive transport (DRT), also known as demand-responsive transit, demand-responsive service,
US National Trans ...
services. BATA debuted its first hybrid bus in December 2005. BATA recently completed a bus transfer terminal on Hall Street in Traverse City, which opened July 21, 2006. The terminal is used to transfer riders to different buses on different routes. BATA also links riders to the Greyhound terminal for regional and long-distance travel. Given the long dirt and gravel roads that cover much of Interlochen and its surrounding area, in 2011, BATA began an experimental transit program consisting of rentable skateboards, scooters, bicycles and cross country skis (only available during the winter seasons). The program is largely targeted at the area's sizeable student population.


General aviation

*
Green Lake Airport Green Lake Airport is a public use airport located three nautical miles (6  km) south of the central business district of Interlochen, a community in Green Lake Township, Grand Traverse County, Michigan, United States. The airport is ...
(Y88) is located three miles south of Interlochen.


Demographics

According to the
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2010, there were 583 people, 240 households, and 142 families residing in the Interlochen CDP. The population density was . There were 277 housing units at an average density of . As of the 2010 census, the racial makeup of the CDP was 95.2%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 2.2%
Native American Native Americans or Native American usually refers to Native Americans in the United States. Related terms and peoples include: Ethnic groups * Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the pre-Columbian peoples of North, South, and Central America ...
, 0.5%
African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...
or
Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
, 0.2% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, 0.2% some other race, and 1.7% from two or more races. 1.9% of the population were
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino, who can be of any race. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 25.4% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 33.3% from 25 to 44, 24.0% from 45 to 64, and 8.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 104.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.6 males.


References


External links


Interlochen Chamber of Commerce
{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Grand Traverse County, Michigan Unincorporated communities in Michigan Census-designated places in Grand Traverse County, Michigan Census-designated places in Michigan Michigan State Historic Sites Traverse City metropolitan area