The State of Superior

The state of Superior

The Upper Peninsula was added to the state of Michigan to settle the war with Ohio over the port city of Toledo. Initially Michigan assumed the area was a wasteland of no use. But, like an awkward teenager entering puberty, the more they explored the peninsula the more they liked it. The peninsula was filled with lumber and minerals and soon was filled with people exploiting its wealth.

But the Upper Peninsula was geographically isolated. The only way to get there from Lower Michigan was taking a ship or ferry through dangerous waters. One bad storm or screw up by the captain and you’re dead and memorialized in a Gordon Lightfoot song.

Admittedly, he makes death on the Great Lakes sound damn good.

With such geographic isolation it stands to reason there would be resentment. But the problem seemed to be solved in 1958 with the completion of the Mackinac Bridge. It was the largest suspension bridge in the world at that time and connected the Upper and Lower Peninsulas with a four lane highway.

Early conceptual drawing of bridge (actual bridge less whimsical due to budget constraints)

But rather than bridge the divide, the increased contact with the “Trolls” living below the bridge made the “Yoopers” in the Upper Peninsula even more spiteful of their downstate neighbors. Some Yoopers spouted phrases like “Bomb the bridge!” and “Build a trapdoor in the northbound lanes.” Some Yoopers proposed a ballot initiative to form the state of Superior. Yooper secessionists collected over 20,000 signatures from 1983-1985, short of the 36,000 needed to put a referendum on the ballot.