Port Sanilac, Michigan

Port Sanilac is a village in Sanilac Township, Sanilac County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 623 at the 2010 census.

History

This village was originally a lumberjack settlement on the shore of Lake Huron named "Bark Shanty." In the late 1840s and 1850s, the settlement gained its first sawmill, schoolhouse, and general store. In 1854, Bark Shanty's first post office opened. In 1857 the village was renamed to Port Sanilac, as it is in Sanilac Township in Sanilac County. Local legend attributes the name to a Wyandotte Indian Chief named Sanilac. See List of Michigan county name etymologies.

Local landmarks include the Port Sanilac lighthouse (burning kerosene from its opening in 1886 until its electrification in 1924) and a twenty-room Victorian mansion (now a museum) built in 1872 by a horse-and-buggy doctor, Dr. Joseph Loop.

The Sanilac Shores Underwater Preserve is a designated ship wreck preserve that is very popular with scuba divers.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 0.80 square miles (2.07 km²), all land. It is located at 43°25′56″N 82°32′33″W / 43.43222°N 82.54250°W / 43.43222; -82.54250. It is considered to be part of the Thumb of Michigan, which in turn is a subregion of the Flint/Tri-Cities.