Fox Islands (Michigan)

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The Fox Islands consist of the North Fox and South Fox islands, in Lake Michigan. The islands are approximately 25 miles northwest of the Leelanau Peninsula of Michigan and about 10 miles southwest of Beaver Island. The three islands form part of an archipelago. There is a lighthouse on South Fox that was built in 1867 and operated until 1959. Both Islands are part of Leelanau County, Michigan.

[edit] North Fox Island

North Fox is the smaller of the two islands, 3.32 km² (1.282 sq mi, or 820.5 acres) in area, roughly 2 miles wide by 1 mile long. This island was purchased by real estate magnate David V. Johnson in 1994 for $1.3 million, and the entire island was sold back to the State of Michigan for $2.2 million at the end of the year 2000.

In the mid-1970s a child pornography ring was discovered operating on North Fox Island. The proprietor of the island used his position in a large social program to fly boys in his private plane to his island re-treat. The Ann Arbor News published a story in their weekend magazine on the proprietor's life, then another story was published when the crimes were uncovered.

[edit] South Fox Island

South Fox Island is 13.89 km² (5.3635 sq mi, or 3,432.6 acres) in area, and about 5 miles long and 1.5 miles wide. As of 2001, David V. Johnson also owned about two-thirds of South Fox. The other third was owned by the State of Michigan, including the two lighthouses on the southern tip of the island. There is no ferry service to South Fox, and it has no docks, fuel or sheltered harbor.

The Old South Fox Island Lighthouse was built in 1868 and includes a 39-foot tall square brick tower attached to a keeper's house. The light itself was a flashing red, 4th order Fresnel lens. It is currently boarded up and abandoned, as is a newer assistant keeper's dwelling next door, built in 1910.

In 1934, a newer 60-foot tall, tower was built closer to the shoreline. This lighthouse came from Sapelo Island, and is a square, pyramidal, cast iron skeletal tower of the 'Sanibel' class. It has an enclosed steel spiral stairway that leads to the 10-sided lantern room at the top. A nearby keeper's house is closed. This tower is currently inactive.

Johnson built an airstrip and a residence on the southern island. He had originally proposed swapping North Fox Island with the state for the third of South Fox that he did not own, but he settled in 2003 for a consolidation deal which traded 218 acres of state owned land on the southern part of South Fox for 219 acres on the north and central parts of the same island. This deal was finalized in March 2003 over the objections of various local environmental groups.

The island includes a cemetery where members of the Grand Traverse Band of Native Americans are currently buried.

Deer were introduced onto the island in 1915. Hunting is permitted on state land by permit only.