×

Same lake, new name

Johnson Lake now known as Lake Pork Chop

Stu Bradley, one of the owners of land along the former Johnson Lake, stands by a sign bearing the lake’s new name: Lake Pork Chop. Bradley was instrumental in bringing about the change. (Journal photo by Christie Mastric)

ISHPEMING — What’s in a name? A lot of fun.

The 20-acre lake formerly known as Johnson Lake in Ely Township now goes by the name Lake Pork Chop.

The lake really doesn’t look like a pork chop, but maybe it could, depending on the cut. Anyway, it’s probably a more interesting moniker than Johnson Lake.

One of the landowners on the lake, Stu Bradley, was instrumental in bringing about the change, which had its genesis in a project for the nearby North Woods Club.

He said that about a year and a half ago, his wife, Bonnie, started a project for the club to start naming roads to make it easier to explain to people the location of a forest cut.

“We probably had 10 different maps — old maps — and this one had the junction where County Road 581, Bryan Creek Road and Flat Rock Road come together, and it was called Pork Chop Junction,” Stu Bradley said.

They got to talking with their neighbors, John and Kay Wirtanen, about the area. The Wirtanens, along with the North Woods Club, own property around the lake.

Coincidentally, John Wirtanen’s nickname as a kid was “Pork Chop,” Stu Bradley said.

“I’m not sure who came up with the idea — ‘Let’s change the name of the lake,'” he said. “The old name was Johnson Lake, and it was named after a person of several families ago that we couldn’t find any connection to.”

So, he put together a package of paperwork to the federal government.

“To my surprise, I got a letter back saying they were going to study the issue,” Stu Bradley said.

As treasurer of the North Woods Club, he broached the subject at a club board meeting where it approved the proposed name change.

In the meantime, he gave the same paperwork to the Marquette County Board of Commissioners, which also voted at a commission meeting to approve the change.

“It wasn’t named Lake Bradley or anything,” Stu Bradley said. “It had a little bit of significance that a quarter of a mile away is the junction that was referred to as Pork Chop Junction.”

According to a Nov. 5 memo from Marquette County Resource Management and Development Department to Marquette County Administrator Scott Erbisch, the lake is in Ely Township but overlaps the border into Humboldt Township.

The department noted that according to geographic data, two lakes in Marquette County are named Johnson Lake, with about 10 other Johnson Lakes in Michigan.

Stu Bradley’s efforts were successful.

The U.S. Board on Geographic Names, based in Reston, Virginia, and part of the U.S. Geological Survey, sent Bradley a letter, dated May 14, informing him that the board at its May 13 meeting approved his proposal.

The name change was entered into the Geographic Names Information System, which the board noted is the nation’s official geographic names repository and is available at https://usgs.gov/geonames/domestic-names.

“We thought the probability was about (a) one in a thousand chance,” Stu Bradley said.

The reasons behind changing the name from Johnson Lake to Lake Pork Chop are varied.

“I think it had some historical significance, and I think it was a fun thing to do,” he said.

Christie Mastric can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250. Her email address is cbleck@miningjournal.net.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper *
   

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today