This Superior Place

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Stories of Bayfield and the Apostle Islands

Dennis McCann

Take a glorious journey in stories and photos to a beloved and picturesque community on the shores of a mighty Great Lake.

168 pages, 8 x 9, 133 color and b&w photos
Paperback: $19.95 | ISBN: 978-0-87020-579-8
Ebook: $15.99 | ISBN: 978-0-87020-586-6
Publication Date: 5/22/2013

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Description

Picturesque little Bayfield on Lake Superior is Wisconsin’s smallest city by population but one of its most popular visitor destinations. This Superior Place captures those unique qualities that keep tourists coming back year after year and offers a historically reliable look at how the community came to be and what it's like today. Abundantly illustrated with both historical and contemporary images, this book showcases, as author Dennis McCann writes, "a community where the past was layered with good times and down times, where natural beauty was the one resource that could not be exhausted by the hand of man, and where history is ever present.”

Because Bayfield serves as "the gateway to the Apostle Islands,” the book also includes chapters on the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Madeline Island, and the nearby Red Cliff Ojibwe community. It also covers significant eras in the Bayfield’s history—lumbering, quarrying, commercial fishing, and the advent of the orchards visitors see today—to offer a visual and written tour of the area and the elements that came together to make it what it is. Colorful stories from the past, written in McCann’s casual, humorous style, give a sense of the unique characters and events that have shaped this charming city on the lake.

Author Bio

Dennis McCann spent most of his professional life traveling Wisconsin and the Midwest for the Milwaukee Journal and Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, he is the author of Badger Boneyards, This Superior Place, and This Storied River: Legend & Lore of the Upper Mississippi.

In 'This Superior Place,' one of Wisconsin’s loveliest small towns and most ravishing landscapes has the great good fortune to fall into the hands of one of its best travel writers. Dennis McCann knows Bayfield and the Apostle Islands intimately, and in this beautifully illustrated book he brings their history and natural environment wonderfully to life.

William Cronon

Professor of History, Geography, and Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin–Madison; author of "Changes in the Land" and "Nature’s Metropolis"

"Punctuated with photos, this book reveals the history that made the region and offers delightful tidbits about events and lifestyles. It's a great gift for all who love this Superior place by the Big Lake."

—Konnie LeMay, editor, Lake Superior Magazine

“The author’s superb prose and pictorial materials illuminate the rich history that underlies the development of Bayfield and the Apostle Islands while also citing visible links that connect attributes of the region’s history to those that are still evident in its vibrant and contemporary culture. This Superior Place is a transcendent recount of Bayfield and the Apostle Islands’ unique and timeless history.”

—Bill Van Sant, Bayfield resident and member of the Bayfield Heritage Association

“What a fun and interesting look at Bayfield and the Apostle Islands! I have been mayor for sixteen years and find that Dennis’s book tells great tales that everyone who likes Bayfield should know.”

—Larry J. MacDonald, longtime mayor of Bayfield

“Dennis McCann captures the enduring magic of the Apostle Islands. From the times of timber barons and fur trading up to today, these richly told stories reveal the wonders of a truly ‘superior place.’”

—Tia Nelson, executive secretary, Board of Commissioners of Public Lands; daughter of former US Senator Gaylord Nelson