Facts About Grosse Ile, Michigan

Click the link below to read a recent article naming Grosse Ile as one of America's great small towns:

Best Places to Live, CNNMoney.com's list of America's best small towns

Here is a link to a great new organization whose mission is to promote Grosse Ile:

Opportunity Grosse Ile

This is the Township's official web site:

Grosse Ile Township

Grosse Ile facts

Elevation: 595 feet
Land area: 9.61 square miles.
Population density: 1134 people per square mile

For population 25 years and over in Grosse Ile:

• High school or higher: 94.4%
• Bachelor's degree or higher: 45.1%
• Graduate or professional degree: 19.5%
• Unemployed: 2.7%
• Mean travel time to work: 29.2 minutes

Grosse Ile - Deeded July 6, 1776

Grosse Ile is home to about 11,000 people who to live on these beautiful and unique islands situated in the Detroit River south of Detroit. Grosse Ile is the name of the main island, but other smaller islands include Elba, Upper Hickory (Meso), Hickory, and Swan. The fact is that Grosse Ile's main island, is actually two islands created by the Thorofare Canal, which runs on a diagonal course from east to west. In all, more than a dozen islands comprise Grosse Ile Township, providing superior habitats for humans, birds, mammals, and fish. The inhabited area is often called simply "The Island." The uninhabited islands comprise a include Calf, Celeron (Tawas), Sugar, Round, Dynamite (Powder House), Fox and Stony. Together they are known as the "conservation crescent." Stony and Celeron are owned by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. The other islands are privately owned.

Invention of the outboard motor

There may be more outboards per person on Grosse Ile than anywhere in America, but surprisingly few people know that it was invented here. Island resident Cameron Waterman successfully tested his invention on the ice-filled Detroit River in February, 1905. He formed the Waterman Marine Motor Company and eventually manufactured and sold up to 1,000 a year. The Waterman family had moved to Grosse Ile in 1879. Cameron's father was a wealthy gentleman farmer whose property extended along West River Road on both sides of Horsemill. Cameron's brother, Ira, undoubtedly assisted with testing and marketing the motor. The sons preferred city life, however, and the family moved back to Detroit.

Wikipedia Facts About Grosse Ile

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 18.3 square miles (47.5 km²), of which 9.6 square miles (24.9 km²) of it (52.6%) is land and 8.7 square miles (22.6 km²) of it (47.4%) is water.

Grosse Ile is the largest island on the Detroit River. Grosse Ile is actually composed of twelve islands although the community is most often identified with the "main island" (which residents simply refer to as "The Island"). Grosse Ile's "main island" is technically composed of two islands.

The tip of the "main island's" northern section is named Hennepin Point in honor of the 17th Century French explorer Father Louis Hennepin. It is uninhabited and separated from the remainder of the northern section by an unnamed canal that cannot be navigated in a power boat. Read more....