Gay, Michigan

Gay, Michigan
Unincorporated community
Downtown Gay
Gay, Michigan
Coordinates: 47°13′39″N 88°09′49″W / 47.22750°N 88.16361°W / 47.22750; -88.16361Coordinates: 47°13′39″N 88°09′49″W / 47.22750°N 88.16361°W / 47.22750; -88.16361[1]
Country United States
State Michigan
County Keweenaw
Elevation[1] 646 ft (197 m)
Time zone UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST) UTC-4 (EDT)
Area code(s) 906
GNIS feature ID 626692[1]

Gay is an unincorporated community in Keweenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan.[1] It is 12 miles from Lake Linden on Copper Island at the western end of the Upper Peninsula. Local government is provided by Sherman Township. In 2000 its population was 60.

The Mohawk Mining Company built a stamp mill in Gay in 1898.[2] The residual stamp sand dumped into Lake Superior increased the town's area greatly. Today, only the large smokestack and the ruins from the stamp mill remain.

Gay is locally celebrated for its annual 4th of July parade. The "Gay Parade" as it is referred to locally, attracts several times the town's population.

The town was named after Joseph E. Gay, one of the founders of the Mohawk and Wolverine Mining Companies.[2] It has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names.[3]

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Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Gay, Michigan". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
  2. 1 2 Ghost Towns of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan from the copper mining of the 1800s
  3. ↑ Parker, Quentin (2010). Welcome to Horneytown, North Carolina, Population: 15: An insider's guide to 201 of the world's weirdest and wildest places. Adams Media. pp. ix. ISBN 9781440507397.
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