6 Unique Facts You Probably Didn’t Know About Michigan’s Great Lakes
Despite having been born and raised in Michigan, I find myself constantly discovering new facts and history about the Mitten state and what makes it truly unique. After spending several years away living in states across the Midwest I've come to find what they say is true: there is no place like home!
One of Pure Michigan's best features and what has given our state its unique shape are the Great Lakes. We are so lucky to live in state that has the largest freshwater system in the world. We all know the H.O.M.E.S. acronym to remember the name of each Great Lake: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior, but check out this list of lesser-known facts about our beloved lakes. Did you know any, or all, of these facts? I sure didn't!
1. The Great Lakes
Michigan has more coastline than any other state, except Alaska. With 3,288 miles of shoreline in Michigan alone, if you combined Michigan's Great Lakes coastline with Canda's that would be equivalent almost 44 percent of the circumference of the Earth.
2. Lake Huron
Hydrologically speaking, Lake Michigan and Lake Huron are the same water level. If it weren't for the Straits of Mackinac they would be considered one entire lake.
3. Lake Ontario
Babe Ruth hit his first professional home run in Toronto in 1914 at Hanlan's Point Stadium. The ball reportedly landed in Lake Ontario where it is still believed to be to this day.
4. Lake Michigan
This is the only one of our Great Lakes that is entirely contained within U.S. territory. The Great Lakes border 8 states and 2 Canadian provinces, but Lake Michigan is the only lake to not touch Canada.
5. Lake Erie
At the time of the original publication of Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, Lake Erie was known for being extremely polluted. The book included the line, “I hear things are just as bad up in Lake Erie.” After conditions had improved, students at the Ohio Sea Program wrote to Dr. Seuss 14 years later and asked him to reconsider the line and he removed it.
6. Lake Superior
With over 3 quadrillion gallons of water, Lake Superior accounts for more than 50% of all the water in the Great Lakes. According to Michigan.org, if you wanted to raise the water level of Lake Superior by only an inch you would need to add an 500 billion gallons of water to do so.