Great Lakes
V・T・E Great Lakes, North America  |
| latitude: 44.7, longitude: -83.7 |
| Browse map of Great Lakes 44°42′00.00″ N, 83°42′00.00″ W |
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Great Lakes is a lake in North America at latitude 44°42′00.00″ North, longitude 83°42′00.00″ West.
Tagging
The Great Lakes are a series of five interconnected freshwater lakes represented together by Relation 1124369 – a "super-relation". The individual lakes are also single multipolygon relations, as noted below. (Caution: Each one of these relations is very large!)
- Lake Erie - Relation 4039900
- Lake Huron - Relation 1205151
- Lake Michigan - Relation 1205149
- Lake Ontario - Relation 1206310
- Lake Superior - Relation 4039486
The shorelines of the Great Lakes were tagged with natural=coastline. There has been some back-and-forth editing on Lake Ontario, but as of 2016 these shorelines are no longer tagged with natural=coastline.
Boundaries
U.S. state borders extend to the international boundary with Canada and to the center of Lake Michigan.
A common law principle holds that a town or township boundary extends to the centerline of a body of water if and only if a person can stand on one shore and discern objects on the opposite shore with the naked eye. This is not the case with the Great Lakes. [1] The following list explores facts and claims about boundaries that nonetheless extend into the Great Lakes, potentially due to statute law:
Illinois:
- At least one county's boundary extends to the state line with Michigan. [2]
- At least one municipality's boundary extends 3 miles (4.8 km) into Lake Michigan. [3]
Indiana:
- County boundaries extend to the state line in Lake Michigan. [4]
Michigan:
- A 1947 interstate compact extends the state line into Lake Superior. [5]
- Statutes refer to the waters as a part of the counties. [6]
- Some counties have definite boundaries in the Great Lakes and their bays. [7][8][9] However, others only have jurisdiction "concurrent with" other counties. [10]
- According to the federal Boundary and Annexation Survey (BAS), townships in some counties extend to the shoreline, those in other counties extend a certain distance into the lake, and those in still others extend into the lake with straight lines and right angles, as if the township had been surveyed on land. In the Geographic Areas Reference Map overview, Alcona and Iosco counties share a portion of Lake Huron with one another but not with Huron County, which shares a different portion with Sanilac and St. Clair counties. However, county-level GARM and BAS maps show these counties with complete boundaries all the way to the international border. [11]
- Baraga County: BAS shows Baraga–Houghton county line inside Keweenaw Bay [12], but an 1885 act fixes it beginning at the bayshore. [13]
- Chippewa County: BAS depicts it with lakeward boundaries [14], even though none of the laws referenced in the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries mentions lakeward boundaries for this county. [15][16]
- Gogebic County: BAS shows nontrivial lakeward boundary [17], but enabling act is based on survey townships. [18]
- Houghton County: BAS shows the boundary jutting into Lake Superior [19], but enabling act sets Lake Superior as the boundary and includes islands in the lake, making no mention of lakeward boundaries. [20][21] Subsequent changes reference fractional townships. [22] An 1885 act fixes the Baraga–Houghton county line beginning at the bayshore. [23]
- Keweenaw County: GARM and BAS show nontrivial boundaries with several counties in Lake Michigan [24], but relevant laws make no mention of lakeward boundaries, only the inclusion of islands. [25][26][27][28] It was carved out of Houghton County, whose enabling act similarly makes no mention of lakeward boundaries. [29]
- Menominee County: Has has a well-documented lakeward boundary, but BAS maps show the boundary farther to the east than the relevant laws. [30]
- Ontonagon County: BAS shows nontrivial lakeward boundaries [31], but enabling act sets Lake Superior as the boundary. [32]
- Cities and villages automatically annex submerged islands within 300 yards (270 m) of the shoreline. [33]
- DeTour Village extends into Lake Huron. [34]
Minnesota:
- A 1947 interstate compact extends the state line into Lake Superior. [35]
- As of 1895, Cook County's boundary stops at the shore of Lake Superior. [36]
- MnDOT and county governments publish datasets that clip county boundaries to the lakeshore for general purpose use. [37][38]
New York:
- County boundaries have extended into Lake Ontario and Lake Erie since as early as 1801. [39]
Ohio:
- Several county lines have extended to the international boundary with Canada since 1827. [40] The rest were extended to the international boundary in 1835 during the Toledo War. [41] ORC 1506.10 reserves Ohio's portion of Lake Erie for the state in terms of property rights [42], but counties are subsidiaries of the state.
- Township boundaries generally do not extend beyond the southern shore of Lake Erie, but a board of county commissioners may take action to extend a township boundary as far as the international boundary. [43] Lake County's survey townships, and thus its civil townships, extend into the lake so that it meets the requirements for countyhood. [44]
- Municipal boundaries may extend up to 2 miles (3.2 km) into Lake Erie, and there is a grandfather clause for boundaries prior to 1955. [45] The governments of Ottawa County and 16 municipalities have concurrent jurisdiction extending to the international border with Canada. [46]
Pennsylvania:
- All submerged lands lakeward of the ordinary low water mark are Commonwealth lands. [47]
Wisconsin:
- A 1947 interstate compact extends the state line into Lake Superior. [48]
- County lines extend to the center of Lake Michigan. [49]
Great Lakes Circle Tour
See Great Lakes/Circle Tour, a system of scenic road (and at least one bicycle) routes that circumnavigate around each of the five Great Lakes (in progress as of 2022).