Superior, Lake
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
Lake, the most northwesterly of the Great Lakes of North America . It is the largest body of fresh water on the globe. The general shape is oval, with the ends curved to the southwest. Measured on a curve, its greatest length is 420 miles; greatest breadth, 167 miles; area, 31,200 square miles. It is as large as Ireland. The surface is 602 feet above sea level. A large part of the bottom lies in a fold of the earth 300 feet below sea level. The northern shore is bold throughout. The southern shore varies from extensive flats to steep cliffs 300 feet high. Numerous islands are found along the shores, both north and south. The largest is Isle Royal. It is noted for its harborage, for good fishing, and as a summer resort. Fine lake trout weighing five to twenty pounds may be taken with hook and line from the cliffs. The border line between Canada and the United States passes just north of the island. The largest stream received by Lake Superior is the St. Louis River. Saint Mary's River is the outlet. Immense deposits of iron ore in Minnesota and Wisconsin and copper in Michigan are tributary. A large fleet is employed in carrying ores, grain, and lumber eastward, and coal, salt, and other heavy commodities westward. The whaleback, a half submerged freight boat shaped not unlike a whale, is a recent development in shipbuilding. The chief ports are Duluth in Minnesota, Superior and Ashland in Wisconsin, Marquette in Michigan, and Port Arthur and Port William in Ontario. The waters of the lake are remarkably clear and are stocked with fine fish, giving employment to many men. See Pictured Rocks ; Duluth ; Great Lakes ; Trout ; St. Lawrence
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Aiton's 1910 figures still largely hold: Superior remains the world's largest freshwater lake by surface area, about 31,700 square miles, though Lake Baikal in Siberia holds far more water. The lake is deeper than Aiton knew — soundings put the greatest depth at about 1,332 feet, so the floor lies some 700 feet below sea level rather than 300. The "recent development" of the whaleback proved a dead end; the last survivor, the SS Meteor of 1896, is a museum ship at Superior, Wisconsin, while the ore trade shifted after mid-century from Aiton's "immense deposits" of high-grade iron to processed taconite pellets. Two changes he could not have foreseen: sea lampreys reaching the lake in the 1940s collapsed the lake trout fishery he praised, now propped up by stocking and lampricides, and his "Port Arthur and Port William" merged in 1970 to become Thunder Bay. Isle Royale, which he calls a summer resort, became a national park in 1940.
Written for this edition, 2026.