These Michigan Islands Were Made by Humans, Not Glaciers

Did you know the Great Lakes contain tens of thousands of islands? Depending on how they're counted, estimates have reached as high as 35,000. Well, at some point, we looked at all that water and decided, "You know what this needs? More land."

And yes, we made some.

Michigan Built an Island in Lake Erie

Photo Credit: Google Maps

One of the biggest examples is the Pointe Mouillee Confined Disposal Facility in western Lake Erie.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Michigan began the project in the 1970s, creating an enormous diked area in the lake to hold contaminated material dredged from the Detroit and Rouge rivers.

Translation: We built a giant container in a Great Lake because dumping polluted river muck directly into the water was, understandably, not Plan A.

Grassy Island Was Essentially Manufactured

Then there's Grassy Island near Wyandotte, which is technically in the Detroit River, but it's still considered part of the Great Lakes system. It started as marsh and shoals. In 1959, the Army Corps surrounded the area with a six-foot dike and then filled it with dredged sediment from the Rouge River. It's now a 72-acre artificial island.

Saginaw Bay Has One, Too

Photo Credit: Google Maps

Channel Island in Saginaw Bay, also called Spoils Island or Shelter Island, partially consists of dredged material and has served as a Corps disposal facility. So next time you're staring across a Michigan Great Lake thinking every piece of land out there has been around since the glaciers left, maybe don't give the glaciers all the credit.

RELATED: Take the Plunge: The 11 Deepest Lakes In Michigan

Sometimes Michigan brought a bulldozer and some waste.