{{Short description|Unincorporated community in Grand Traverse County, Michigan}} {{For|the unrelated townships of the same name|Mayfield Township, Michigan (disambiguation){{!}}Mayfield Township, Michigan}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}} {{Infobox settlement | name = Mayfield, Michigan | settlement_type = [[Unincorporated area|Unincorporated community]] | nickname = "Birthplace of the [[Adams (dry fly)|Adams Fly]]" | motto = <!-- Images --> | image_skyline = | image_size = 275 | image_caption = | image_flag = | image_seal = <!-- Maps --> | pushpin_map = Michigan#USA | pushpin_label = Mayfield | pushpin_label_position = left<!-- the position of the pushpin label: left, right, top, bottom, none --> | pushpin_map_caption = | image_map = | mapsize = | map_caption = <!-- Location --> | coordinates = {{Coord|44.626|N|85.530|W|region:US-MI_type:city_source:GNIS|display=inline,title}} | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = {{Flagu|United States}} | subdivision_type1 = [[U.S. state|State]] | subdivision_name1 = {{Flag|Michigan}} | subdivision_type2 = [[List of counties in Michigan|County]] | subdivision_name2 = {{Flagicon image|Flag of Grand Traverse County, Michigan.svg}} [[Grand Traverse County, Michigan|Grand Traverse]] | subdivision_type3 = [[Civil township|Township]] | subdivision_name3 = [[Paradise Township, Michigan|Paradise]]
<!-- Government -->| government_footnotes = | government_type = | leader_title = | leader_name = | established_title = Settled | established_date = 1868 <!-- Area -->| area_footnotes = | area_total_sq_mi = | area_land_sq_mi = | area_water_sq_mi = | unit_pref = Imperial
<!-- Elevation -->| elevation_footnotes = <ref name="gnis">{{cite gnis|631772|Mayfield}}</ref> | elevation_ft = 837 | elevation_m = <!-- Population --> | population_footnotes = | population_as_of = | population_total = | pop_est_footnotes = | pop_est_as_of = | population_est = | population_density_sq_mi = | population_density_km2 = <!-- General information --> | timezone = [[Eastern Time Zone|Eastern (EST)]] | utc_offset = -5 | timezone_DST = EDT | utc_offset_DST = -4 | postal_code_type = [[ZIP Code|ZIP code(s)]] | postal_code = 49666<br /> 49649 ([[Kingsley, Michigan|Kingsley]])<br />49696 ([[Traverse City, Michigan|Traverse City]]) | area_code = [[Area code 231|231]] | blank_name = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID | blank_info = 631772<ref name="gnis"/> | website = | footnotes = }}
'''Mayfield''' is an [[Unincorporated area|unincorporated community]] in [[Grand Traverse County, Michigan|Grand Traverse County]] in the U.S. state of [[Michigan]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Geographic Names Information System |url=https://edits.nationalmap.gov/apps/gaz-domestic/public/search/names/05bd2208-4158-5705-b783-f232c59186d9/summary |access-date=2022-12-14 |website=edits.nationalmap.gov}}</ref> It is located in [[Paradise Township, Michigan|Paradise Township]] between [[Kingsley, Michigan|Kingsley]] and [[Traverse City, Michigan|Traverse City]] along South Garfield Road (County Road 611). As an unincorporated community, Mayfield has no legally defined boundaries or population statistics of its own.
== History == The land on which Mayfield sits has long been territory under the [[Council of Three Fires]]; the [[Ojibwe]], [[Odawa]], and [[Potawatomi]].
In 1868, a [[sawmill]] was built upon Swainston Creek, a tributary of the [[Boardman River]]. Later, a [[Gristmill|grist mill]] was built, and the settlement was named '''Beulah'''. However, in 1869, the community was awarded a [[post office]] under the name of Mayfield, named after the [[Mayfield Township, Grand Traverse County, Michigan|adjacent township]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Romig |first=Walter |title=Michigan Place Names: The History of the Founding and the Naming of More Than Five Thousand Past and Present Michigan Communities |publisher=[[Wayne State University Press]] |year=1986 |isbn=0-8143-1837-1 |location=[[Detroit]] |pages=359}}</ref> In 1872, a line of the [[Pennsylvania Railroad]] was extended from [[Cadillac, Michigan|Cadillac]] via [[Walton, Michigan|Walton]] and Mayfield to Traverse City.<ref>{{Cite web |title=michiganrailroads.com - Evolution Map - Lower - 1872 |url=http://www.michiganrailroads.com/evolution-of-michigan-railroads/176-evolution-lower-peninsula/evolution-1870s/4367-evolution-map-lower-1872 |access-date=2022-12-14 |website=www.michiganrailroads.com |archive-date=19 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200719032824/http://www.michiganrailroads.com/evolution-of-michigan-railroads/176-evolution-lower-peninsula/evolution-1870s/4367-evolution-map-lower-1872 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
In 1922, Leonard Halladay, a Michigan [[fly tyer]] from Mayfield, conceived the popular [[Adams (dry fly)|Adams Fly]] as a general mayfly imitation. It was first fished by an Ohio attorney and friend of Halladay, Judge Charles F. Adams on the Boardman River near [[Traverse City, Michigan|Traverse City]]. Charles Adams reported his success with the fly to Halladay who named the fly after his friend.<ref name="Schullery">{{cite book |last=Schullery |first=Paul |title=American Fly Fishing-A History |publisher=The Easton Press |year=1996 |location=Norwalk, CT}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Barritt |first=Amy |title=Famous Fly for Fishing calls Mayfield Home |url=https://gtjournal.tadl.org/2015/famous-fly-for-fishing-calls-mayfield-home/ |access-date=2022-12-14 |language=en-US}}</ref> For this reason, Mayfield is known as the "Birthplace of the Adams Fly".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-08-14 |title=Mayfield, Michigan: Birthplace of the Adams Fly |url=http://www.dankennaleyflyfishing.com/mayfield-michigan-birthplace-of-the-adams-fly/ |access-date=2020-01-07 |website=Dan Kennaley FlyFishing |language=en}}</ref>
In 1961, Mayfield Pond, the small impoundment on Swainston Creek, was washed out in a rainstorm, subsequently leading to the failure of the Keystone Dam, upstream on the [[Boardman River]]. In 1987, the pond nearly failed again, but a washout was prevented.<ref>{{Cite web |last=admin |title=When Earthen Dams Fail: Washouts Along Northern Michigan Rivers |url=https://gtjournal.tadl.org/2016/damsfail/ |access-date=2022-12-14 |language=en-US}}</ref>
== See also ==
* [[Pere Marquette State Forest]] * [[Traverse City Railroad]]
== References == {{reflist}}{{Grand Traverse County, Michigan}}
[[Category:Unincorporated communities in Michigan]] [[Category:Unincorporated communities in Grand Traverse County, Michigan]] [[Category:Traverse City metropolitan area]] [[Category:Populated places in the United States established in 1868]] [[Category:1868 establishments in Michigan]]
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