On January 24, 2019, Minong — the Ojibwe word for Isle Royale — was added to the National Register of Historic Places as the Minong Traditional Cultural Property. While this Michigan island in Lake Superior and its more than 450 surrounding islands has been a national park since 1945 — and was further protected in 1976 after Congress set aside 99 percent of the main island as wilderness — this new designation highlights the island’s historical significance since 1790 as a hub for fishing, mining, hunting and timbering.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the nation’s historic places worthy of preservation, and is “part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.”
