Trout Lake in Chippewa County Dates Back to 500 A.D.
The village of Trout Lake lies in Trout Lake Township within Chippewa County in the Upper Peninsula. I went deer hunting there many years ago.....didn’t get or see a thing.
Trout Lake's history has been traced as far back as the year 500! Archaeologists have uncovered Native American artifacts that prove they set camps around Trout Lake over 1500 years ago. Tools made of stone, pottery, flints and more camp paraphernalia have been found.
By the mid to late 1800s, the white man brought their logging business to Trout Lake. The town was settled in 1881 at a junction where two railroads met. It soon became a trading center for all the surrounding lumber camps.
A Wisconsin man, Edgar Ford, bought some land and built the historic Birch Lodge on the east side of the lake in 1912. It still stands to this day, open for business.
The lumber business may have dwindled, but the village of Trout Lake seems to be doing OK after all these years. It's officially known as an unincorporated community, but you wouldn't know it when you visit. There are still a nice handful of businesses still around, and plenty of old, original houses, storefronts and abandoned structures that stand as a reminder of the Trout Lake of the 1800s.
The post office is still operating.
