This week in 1837, Michigan became the 26th state in the Union.
Michigan is famous for having an upper peninsula and a lower peninsula.
But not many people know Michigan also has a Lost Peninsula.
The story of the Lost Peninsula is actually tied up in the story of how Michigan became a state.
Under the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, the southern border between Michigan and Ohio was supposed to run on a line that was along the southern tip of Lake Michigan.
But the maps back then didn’t quite match the actual geography.
So, of course, both Michigan and Ohio interpreted this to mean that they controlled a long, thin strip of land that includes what is now the city of Toledo, and that the other side did not.
This dispute got so heated in the 1830s that the two sides raised militias, occasionally fired warning shots at each other, and once threw fists at a tavern.
To settle what became known as the Toledo War, the US government made a deal: it gave Ohio the disputed territory called the Toledo Strip, while awarding Michigan statehood and most of what is now the Upper Peninsula.
There was one hiccup with the new border between Michigan and Ohio: there was a stretch of about 250 acres in southeastern Michigan that were not connected to any other land in Michigan.
It was surrounded by water on its northern, western and eastern sides, and Ohio on its south.
But this was definitely more a story you can file under “oddity of geography” than “insurmountable obstacle.”
Americans have the right to move freely between states, so when the residents of the Lost Peninsula want to head to other parts of Michigan, they can drive or boat there.
They do get their water and sewer service through the city of Toledo, but local kids have to take a bus through the Ohio land route to get to their Michigan school, which is not on the peninsula.
Recreation, on the other hand, is a lot closer to home.
With all that water, it’s no surprise the Lost Peninsula has its own marina.
Winter is when a lot of us catch cold, and the old school way to get over that cold is with a big, hot bowl of chicken soup.
But if you can’t wait, soupmaker Progresso is now offering “Progresso Soup Drops.”
They have the flavor of chicken noodle soup in the form of a cough drop or hard candy… which is one way to mark National Soup Month.
The story of Michigan’s Lost Peninsula (Michigan Radio)
‘Progresso Soup Drops’, The Comforting Taste of Chicken Noodle Soup Captured in a Hard Candy Form (Laughing Squid)