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History · Bear Lake

Bear Lake dates to 1863, and 35% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1885 on and the census since 1880.

1863founded
0on the National Register
35%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Bear Lake began

When was Bear Lake founded?

1863

Bear Lake dates its founding to 1863 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 236 in 18802020 census: 342163 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1865.The full story ↓

What stands out about Bear Lake’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Bear Lake are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 504 in 1910; 342 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Bear Lake’s homes were built before 1948.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bear Lake’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bear Lake’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Bear Lake, census by census

010020030040050018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 504

Peaked at 504 in 1910; 342 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bear Lake’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Bear Lake came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bear Lake.

Read it all →

In 1836, individuals from various tribes of native people signed the Treaty of Washington, which ceded the northwest portion of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan to the United States. At the time, native people lived in the Bear Lake area, evidence remaining in various burial mounds of the region, including one at Pierport.

In 1841, John Stronach and party came to the Manistee area and started a lumber mill. During the following twenty years, the city of Manistee grew as virgin forests were cut, and the logs put into the Manistee rivers to float to the mills on Manistee Lake.

ChaptersHomesteadingLumber boom yearsPost lumber

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Bear Lake, 1863 to 1956

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1863
    FoundingBear Lake is established
  3. 20th century
  4. 1910CensusPopulation peaks at 504
  5. 1915Born hereJames D. Hittle is born here
  6. 1956On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Bear Lake, decade by decade

Today1 recent
MIMap-doton-BearLake2005MIMap-doton-BearLake
On the map

Bear Lake on the map, 1956 to 1983

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bear Lake. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Bear Lake on the 1956 USGS mapBear Lake on the 1983 USGS map1956Onekama sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bear Lake.

Every building

Bear Lake, building by building, 1885

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.

Bear Lake fire insurance map, 1885, sheet 11885Sheet 1 of 1
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Questions about Bear Lake’s history

What year was Bear Lake founded?

In 1863, according to Wikidata. Bear Lake’s post office opened in 1865, and the census of 1880 counted 236 people here.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.