The proposed State of Superior (or State of Ontonagon) is the name of a longstanding "51st state" proposal involving the secession of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (U.P.) from the rest of the state of Michigan, due to cultural differences, geographic separation, as well as the feeling that the capital in Lansing ignores the problems of the Upper Peninsula. The same area had been referred to as a possible future state named Sylvania by Thomas Jefferson.[1] Named for Lake Superior, the idea has gained serious attention at times, though it is quite unlikely to ever come to fruition due to the large amount of funding that the area receives from the lower part of the state, and the strong connections that were cemented by the completion of the Mackinac Bridge, which gave the peninsula a direct highway connection to the rest of the state.
Several prominent legislators including local politician, Dominic Jacobetti, formally attempted enacting such legislation in the 1970s, with no success.[2] As a state, it would currently have the smallest population. For instance, its 320,000 residents would represent only 60% of Wyoming's population, and less than 50% of Alaska's. It would rank 40th in land area, larger than Maryland. Its largest city, Marquette, would also beat out Burlington, Vermont as being the smallest city in the United States that is the largest city of its state.
Efforts to secede and form a new state date back to 1858, when a convention was held in Ontonagon for the purpose of forming a new state combining the upper peninsula of Michigan, northern Wisconsin, and northeast Minnesota.[3] The new state was to be called either Superior or Ontonagon. The New York Times editorialized:
In 1897, another proposal for creating a State of Superior included areas in the Upper Peninsula along with portions of Wisconsin.[5]
In 1962, an Upper Peninsula Independence Association was founded to advocate for the formation of State of Superior. A secession bill was submitted to the Michigan Legislature, and 20,000 petition signatures were collected—36,000 short of the number needed—for a ballot referendum on separation.[6]
Efforts continued into the mid-1970s (one bumper sticker suggested naming the 51st state "North Michigan"), with residents of the Upper Peninsula and northern Wisconsin, each resentful of tax drains and other perceived slights from their downstate cousins, joining together to pursue the desired legislation.[7]