Zug Island, Michigan

Zug Island is an intensely industrialized landmass. The Detroit Iron Works built the first blast furnace there in 1901 to make pig iron for the region’s foundries. More furnaces were added in 1909 and 1938. Great Lakes Steel bought the plant in 1931, and uses its iron to make steel at the adjacent plant. Molten iron is transported to the island by rail. The coke battery is independently owned by the DTE Company. The area became an island when a canal was made to connect the Rouge River to the Detroit River in 1888. The canal was widened in the 1920s, as larger vessels needed access to Ford’s River Rouge plant. Access to the island is restricted, and legends about it abound.