Irish Hills is an area of land located roughly in southeastern Jackson County and northwest Lenawee County in Southeast Michigan. It was named after the numerous Irish

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

who settled there from 1830 until 1850. Today it is known throughout the state for its scenery, especially in the summer. Its hills and larger kettle lakes surround the

Hayes State Park Walter J. Hayes State Park is a public recreation area covering on the southeast corner of Wamplers Lake in the Irish Hills region of the state of Michigan. Most of the state park lies within Lenawee County with a small portion extending into ...

. It is also known for its chain of smaller kettle lakes bordered by US Highway 12 (US 12, Michigan Avenue). These link to Cambridge Junction Historic State Park, which is adjoined by the Michigan International Speedway. Twin Towers - Irish Hills

Starting in the 1920's the Irish Hills has had several family-oriented

roadside attraction A roadside attraction is a feature along the side of a road meant to attract tourists. In general, these are places one might stop on the way to somewhere, rather than being a destination. They are frequently advertised with billboard (advertis ...

s, including an old west theme park known as Frontier City'','' a mock dinosaur exhibit named Prehistoric Forest, and a fairy tale themed park named Fantasy Land'','' all of which have closed. Frontier City saw some competition in 1965 with the opening of the Stagecoach Stop, a similar park with a better location. As of 2024, Mystery Hill, a gravity hill, is still in operation. Attempts are being made to save the observation towers known as the Irish Hills Towers. In the 1970's,

Cedar Point Cedar Point is a amusement park located on a Lake Erie peninsula in Sandusky, Ohio, United States, owned and operated by Six Flags. It opened in 1870 and is considered the second-oldest operating amusement park in the US behind Lake Compounc ...

acquired land in an attempt to build an amusement park, which would have complemented its location in Sandusky, Ohio. However, local residents spoke out against the project and it was eventually cancelled. The Michigan International Speedway hosts

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

races, attracting over 300,000 fans a year during the racing season of June and August. The Michigan International Speedway also hosts the Faster Horses Music Festival and Nite Lights a drive-through winter holiday light display around Christmas. Some towns in Irish Hills include

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

, Norvell and Onsted.

References

External links

Lenawee County CVBLenawee County government siteComplete text of ''History of Lenawee County'' published in 1909 by the Western Historical SocietyBrooklyn-Irish Hills Chamber of Commerce
Mlive.com news, May 23, 2013 ttps://web.archive.org/web/20151119031452/http://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/index.ssf/2013/05/peek_through_time_irish_hills.html Archived 11-18-2015 {{Authority control Geography of Michigan Geography of Lenawee County, Michigan Resorts in Michigan Geography of Jackson County, Michigan Irish-American neighborhoods Irish-American culture in Michigan

See also

References

External links