:Clam Lake Canal

{{Infobox canal

| name = Clam Lake Canal

| image = Mitchell_State_Park_(May_2017).jpg

| image_size = 275

| alt = Clam Lake Canal in May 2017

| image_caption = Clam Lake Canal from M-115 (May 2017)

| map =

| map_size =

| map_alt =

| map_caption =

| pushpin_map = Michigan

| pushpin_map_alt = Location within the state of Michigan

| pushpin_map_size = 250

| pushpin_map_relief =

| pushpin_map_caption = Location within the state of Michigan

| location = Mitchell State Park
Cadillac, Michigan

| country = {{Nowrap|{{Flagu|United States|size=23px}}}}

| coordinates = {{coord|44|14|22|N|85|27|13|W|region:US-MI|display=inline,title}}

| length_mi =

| length_km =

| elev_ft = 1,289

| elev_m =

| status = Open

| xfield1 = Maximum width

| xvalue1 = 48 feet (14.6 m)

| former_names = Black Creek{{cite web|publisher=Cadillac Area Visitors Bureau|url=http://explorecadillac.org/2015/12/04/2-lakes-a-canal-a-railroad-a-bit-of-history/|date=December 4, 2015|title=2 Lakes, A Canal, A Railroad, & A Bit of History|access-date=December 29, 2018|archive-date=December 30, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181230080704/http://explorecadillac.org/2015/12/04/2-lakes-a-canal-a-railroad-a-bit-of-history/|url-status=dead}}

| modern_name = Cadillac Canal

| present_owner = Michigan DNR

| original_owner = George A. Mitchell

| engineer = Clam Lake Improvement and Construction Company

| other_engineer =

| date_approve =

| date_act =

| date_began =

| date_use =

| date_completed = 1873

| connects_to = Lake Cadillac and Lake Mitchell
(originally known as Big Clam Lake and Little Clam Lake)

| xfield3 = Depth

| xvalue3 = 2.25 feet (0.69 m)

}}

{{Infobox historic site

| name = Clam Lake Canal

| image =

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| designation1 = Michigan State Historic Site

| designation1_date = March 16, 1989

}}

The Clam Lake Canal (sometimes called the Cadillac Canal){{sfn|Forster|2018|page=49}} is a man-made canal between Lake Mitchell and Lake Cadillac in Cadillac, Michigan made by George A. Mitchell in the 1870s. The purpose of the canal was to facilitate the movement of logs to sawmills.

The canal displays an unusual water phenomenon; it is frozen over in the first part of the winter when the lakes on each side of it are unfrozen. Then when the adjacent lakes freeze, the canal remains unfrozen.

Background

Mitchell persuaded the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad to change their original route layout between the lakes, redirecting it to the eastern end of the Little Clam Lake, in the southeast corner of Wexford County, Michigan.{{cite web |url= https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-163098205.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170213163755/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-163098205.html |url-status= dead|archive-date= February 13, 2017 |title=Connected by a Canal |last=Irish |first=Brenda |date=September 1, 2006 |publisher= Michigan History Magazine |access-date= February 12, 2017}} Mitchell widened the stream to be able to float logs from one lake to the other and collect fees for the usage of the waterway.{{cite news |url=https://digmichnews.cmich.edu/?a=d&d=WexfordCEN19710612-01.1.2&|last= Peterson|first=William |date=June 12, 1971 |title=Judge tells of county seat battle |newspaper=Cadillac Evening News |location=Cadillac, Michigan}}

Enlargement and current use

The Clam Lake Canal has been widened six times over the years to about {{convert|50|ft|m|abbr=on|disp=or}}, and is used as a recreational passage between the lakes.{{sfn|Ashlee|2005|p=518}}{{cite news |author= |title=Water |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70973384/ |newspaper=The Akron Beacon Journal |location=Akron, Ohio |date=June 13, 1993 |via=newspapers.com {{open access}} |access-date=March 25, 2021 |archive-date=March 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210325014136/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/70973384/the-akron-beacon-journal/ |url-status=live }} The canal was dedicated as a Michigan State Historic Site on March 16, 1989.{{cite web|publisher=Cadillac Area Visitors Bureau|url=https://www.cadillacmichigan.com/cadillac-canal-87/|date=2018|title=Cadillac Canal|access-date=December 29, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181230030044/https://www.cadillacmichigan.com/cadillac-canal-87/|archive-date=December 30, 2018|url-status=dead}}

Freezing phenomenon

In the winter, Clam Lake Canal often displays an unusual phenomenon; it freezes over in the first part of the winter, when the lakes on each side are unfrozen.{{sfn|Jager|2007|p=11}} When the lakes freeze over in the mid-winter months, the canal thaws.{{sfn|Jager|2007|p=11}}

File:Canal with Lake Cadillac 1890.jpg|January 1890 – Clam Lake Canal unfrozen in winter months

File:Canal flows and lakes frozen.jpg|February 1900 – Clam Lake Canal unfrozen

File:Clam Lake Canal frozen.jpg|21 November 2008 – Widened Clam Lake Canal is frozen

References

Sources

{{cite book|last=Ashlee|first=Laura R. |location=Ann Arbor|title= Traveling Through Time / A Guide to Michigan's Historical Markers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xd-mh9r0zEkC&pg=PA518|year=2005|publisher=University of Michigan Press|isbn=0-472-03066-3}}
{{cite book|last=Forster|first=Matt |location=Michigan|title= Backroads & Byways of Michigan |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=B_FODwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Clam+Lake+Canal%22&pg=PT237 |year=2018|publisher= Countryman Press

|isbn=978-1581574944}}

{{cite book|last=Jager|first=Mark |title=Mystic Michigan: Part One|year=2007|url=https://archive.org/details/mysticmichiganpa0000jage/page/10/mode/2up?ref=ol&view=theater&q=Clam+Lake |location=Marion, Michigan|publisher=Zosma Publications|isbn=978-1889043043|quote=Ever since the canal was constructed in the late 1880s, people have wondered why the canal freezes over when the cold weather comes, while the lakes remain unfrozen. Later, when the lakes freeze over, the canal thaws out and remains unfrozen for the rest of the winter.}}