In this episode of End of the Road in Michigan, we venture to the windswept waters of Saginaw Bay to uncover the strange and storied past of Charity Island. Once a remote refuge for lighthouse keepers, Native Americans, bootleggers, and birders, the island holds secrets that stretch back centuries.

There it sits — a lush tree-lined island on the horizon of Saginaw Bay. Big and Little Charity Islands are ten miles from the western shore of Michigan’s Thumb. Except for a couple of seasonal residents who live and host tours at the lighthouse keeper's house, the island is uninhabited.

These islands are considered by the US Fish and Wildlife Services to be one of the most remote and least visited islands in the Michigan Island National Wildlife Sanctuary. Visitors are few due to the boulder-filled and treacherous shallow waters that surround the island. Yet, Charity Island has a fascinating history with its isolation and remoteness in a busy Saginaw Bay.

What role did it play in navigation, survival, and even smuggling? And what makes it one of Michigan's most intriguing locations today?

Tune in for a 10-minute narrative that blends historical fact with Great Lakes folklore, brought to you from the tip of Michigan's Thumb.

Read the full story at Charity Island History Is Mysterious and Remote

A production of Thumbwind Publications