Tour of Beaver Island (2 of 3)

Author: RickB
Published: Fri 25 Jul 2025
Episode Link: https://gospeltangents.com/2025/07/tour-of-beaver-island/

See what a local historian thinks about James Strang as we tour the town of St James on Beaver Island, Michigan. Check out the conversation!

Don’t miss our other conversations about Strangism: https://gospeltangents.com/denominations/strangites/

Gospel Tangents

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Beaver Island: A Journey Through Time and Tyranny in Lake Michigan

Welcome to Beaver Island, often called “America’s Emerald Isle,” a fascinating gem in Lake Michigan with a history as rich and diverse as its landscape. If you’ve ever wondered about year-round island life, a unique Mormon kingdom, or the rise of an Irish community, you’re in the right place!

Island Life: Year-Round Charm and Seasonal Bustle

Beaver Island is unique as the only island in Lake Michigan with a year-round population. While around 600-800 people call it home in the winter, the population swells to 3,000-4,000 during the summer months. Access to the island is primarily by private boat or air service, as ferries only run until mid-December.

The main community, St. James, named after James Jesse Strang himself, is where most businesses are concentrated, including the year-round community center, taverns like the Shamrock bar and restaurant, a motel, and a hardware store that also houses a gift shop and vet clinic. Many other businesses, like some restaurants and a bicycle/boat rental shop, are open only in the summer.

Historically, the island’s economy relied heavily on commercial fishing, with fish being salted or iced down and sent via ferry to Charlevoix for further rail transport to cities like Indianapolis or Chicago. Hotels also played a main role in the economy for many years.

Unforgettable Reign of King Strang

A significant chapter in Beaver Island’s history revolves around James Jesse Strang, a controversial figure who established a Mormon colony here. Strang arrived on the island around 1847-1848, with his colony reaching approximately 1,500 people by the time of his death in 1856.

Strang was an ambitious leader, and his people surveyed Beaver Island for the first time in 1848. He named the town of St. James after himself and began building a highway, the King’s Highway, also named after himself. His colony was so established that they even had a daily newspaper, the only one north of Grand Rapids at the time.

However, Strang’s rule was often described as tyrannical by the tour guide. He quickly made enemies with his policies:

He mandated that anyone wishing to stay on the island had to become a Mormon or pay him a tax or leave. This drove many people off the island, though some reluctantly converted because they had nowhere else to go.

He authorized his followers to steal fish from other fishermen’s nets and even take items from the homes of fishermen who were out at sea, according to the guide.

Initially, Strang was against plural marriages, but a couple of years after arriving, he embraced polygamy, taking four more wives after his first wife, Mary, left him and returned to Wisconsin.

He was also known for peculiar practices, such as having his people build a dock just a few inches under the water in Font Lake (named for baptismal font) so he could appear to be “walking on water” when baptizing his followers.

Strang also left a lasting mark on the island’s geography by naming several places with biblical references. Examples include:

Font Lake, where baptisms took place.

Mount Pisgah, a hill named after the biblical Mount Pisgah from which Jesus preached. It became a popular spot for people to climb.

A lake on the south side of the island was called Lake Jaz or Lake Galilee, corresponding to the Sea of Galilee in the Holy Land.

Interestingly, Strang was a well-educated man who passed the Michigan bar exam and could practice law. This legal expertise proved useful, as he was arrested multiple times. He was taken to Detroit for “coroner’s fitting” (likely related to counterfeiting) and later for treason and sedition, but he successfully defended himself and was acquitted in both cases. After his first acquittal, he crowned himself king.

The Assassination and the Irish Influx

Strang’s oppressive policies and his strict rule, including a rule that husbands of women caught wearing long dresses would be whipped, led to his downfall. In 1856, two men who had been whipped shot Strang. James was wounded and taken by boat back to Burlington, Wisconsin, where his first wife Mary was living, and he died there 17 days later. The exact charges against his assassins are unclear, but they were released after a judge (justice of the peace) charged them only 50 cents for the crime.

His assassination triggered a significant demographic shift on the island. The news spread quickly, and five boatloads of people came to drive the Mormons off. Irish laborers working on the island’s lighthouse at the time sent word to relatives working on the Erie Canal and in Toronto, inviting them to come to Beaver Island, where land was available and fishing was good. By 1900, 75-90% of the island’s population was Irish. One of the first things the “Gentiles” did after driving off the Mormons was to burn down the Mormon tabernacle. Many former Strang followers who had been compelled to join Mormonism chose to renounce it and stay on the island.

Other Island Features and History

Beaver Island is about 14.5 miles long and encompasses approximately 54 square miles. It features two fire stations, a volunteer fire department, and a post office built around 1890 that originally served as a tavern. The island also has several cemeteries, where early settlers and fishermen were buried even before the Mormons arrived. Archaeologists have used ground-penetrating lidar to locate old graves marked by wooden crosses that have long since rotted away. They are marked by white poles now.

Other notable points include:

High Island, located about 4.5 miles from Beaver Island, which boasts the highest point of land on Lake Michigan. It is currently uninhabited, with the last residents, some Native American families, leaving after a severe storm in 1940.

Donegal Bay in the northwest corner of the island, named to correspond with a bay in the northwest corner of Ireland, reflecting the strong Irish influence.

Trout Island, which appears as two islands due to an airfield down its middle.

Today, Beaver Island offers a blend of tranquil island life and fascinating historical sites, inviting visitors to explore its unique past and vibrant community.