{{Use Canadian English|date=February 2026}} {{Infobox settlement | name = Michael's Bay | settlement_type = Ghost town | native_name = | nickname = | motto = | image_skyline = | imagesize = | image_caption = | image_flag = | flag_size = | image_shield = | shield_size = | etymology = | image_map = | map_caption = | pushpin_map = Canada Southern Ontario | pushpin_map_caption = | pushpin_label_position= | coordinates = {{coord|format=dms|display=title,inline}} | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = Canada | subdivision_type1 = Province | subdivision_name1 = Ontario | subdivision_type2 = District | subdivision_name2 = Manitoulin | subdivision_type3 = Municipality | subdivision_name3 = Tehkummah | subdivision_type4 = | subdivision_name4 = | established_title = Settled | established_date = | established_title1 = Incorporated | established_date1 = | established_title2 = Dissolved (amalgamated) | established_date2 = | named_for = | area_total_km2 = | area_land_km2 = | area_water_km2 = | area_footnotes = | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = | population_as_of = | population_note = | population_footnotes = | population_total = | population_density_km2= | timezone = EST | utc_offset = -5 | timezone_DST = EDT | utc_offset_DST = -4 | postal_code_type = Postal code | postal_code = | area_code = | blank_name_sec1 = | blank_info_sec1 = | website = | footnotes = }} '''Michael's Bay''' is a ghost town in Tehkummah, Ontario, Canada. It was located on the namesake bay at the mouth of the Manitou River.<ref>{{Cite cgndb |FDUML |Michael's Bay |access-date=24 November 2025}}</ref>
Certain areas of Manitoulin Island were covered under the Treaty of 1862 and Indigenous peoples relocated after it was signed.<ref name="Harry">{{cite web |last1=Harry |first1=Isobel |title=Michael’s Bay: Manitoulin’s vanished boomtown tells a ghostly tale |url=https://www.manitoulin.com/michaels-bay-manitoulins-vanished-boomtown-tells-a-ghostly-tale/ |website=The Manitoulin Expositor |access-date=20 November 2025 |date=July 24, 2019}}</ref> Michael's Bay was the first area to be used by settlers,<ref name="Letter">{{cite web |title=A story of Michael’s Bay pioneers |url=https://www.manitoulin.com/story-michaels-bay-pioneers/ |website=The Manitoulin Expositor |access-date=20 November 2025 |date=November 9, 2016}}</ref> eventually becoming the largest settlement on the island.<ref name="OHS">{{cite magazine|magazine=Ontario Historical Society Bulletin|title=Michael's Bay Historical Society needs help to save historic townsite|issue=152|year=2005}}</ref> The town was known for its prominent lumber industry from the 1860s to the early 1900s.<ref name="OHS"/> At its height, Michael's Bay had a post office, two boarding houses,<ref name="OHS"/> a lighthouse, a lath mill, a sawmill, and a shingle mill. A school was established in 1874.<ref name="Letter"/> While the industry was quite lucrative at first, financial prospects dwindled once Americans began charging tariffs on Canadian exports. By 1890, most of the town's residents had moved.<ref name="Harry"/> A 1914 fire ruined the bulk of the remaining infrastructure.<ref name="Letter"/>
The original lighthouse stopped functioning in 1947. Members of the Michael's Bay Historical Society successfully campaigned for a replacement that was built in 2006. The new lighthouse is solar-powered and has a historical plaque at its base.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Savari |first1=Tom |title=The Manitoulin Expositor |url=https://www.manitoulin.com/michaels-bay-point-lighthouse-shines-again/ |website=Michael’s Bay Point lighthouse shines again |access-date=20 November 2025 |date=October 8, 2025}}</ref> In 2005, a property in Michael's Bay was subject to a criminal investigation by Belgium, which alleged that a Canadian couple had been using it to sell bovine growth hormone, and successfully encouraged the Canadian government to seize the land.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Schlote |first1=Warren |title=Island man purchases former Royal Michael’s Bay Resort |url=https://www.manitoulin.com/island-man-purchases-former-royal-michaels-bay-resort/ |website=The Manitoulin Expositor |access-date=20 November 2025 |date=October 14, 2020}}</ref> Some of the land remained unsold until 2021, when it was bought by the Michael's Bay Historical Society.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Schlote |first1=Warren |title=Final seized Michael’s Bay properties hit the market |url=https://www.manitoulin.com/final-seized-michaels-bay-properties-hit-the-market/ |website=The Manitoulin Expositor |access-date=20 November 2025 |date=May 12, 2021}}</ref>
== See also == * List of ghost towns in Ontario
== References == {{reflist}}
== Further reading == * {{cite book |last1=Russell |first1=Derek |title=Michael's Bay: The Rise and Fall of Manitoulin Island's Forgotten Town |date=2016 |publisher=Ontario Historical Society |isbn=9780993670817}}
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Category:Communities in Manitoulin Island Category:Ghost towns in Northern Ontario
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