Can You Pronounce Michigan's Least-Populated Municipality?

Michigan's least populated municipality is even tough for Michiganders to pronounce.

Anyone that has lived in Michigan or visited this great state knows that many of the names of cities, streets, and more are difficult to pronounce. When it comes to Michigan's least populated municipality, that idea holds true.

The state's least-populated municipality only had a population of 15 people according to the 2020 census and is located at the tip of the thumb. What is it? Well good luck pronouncing it, but the answer is Pointe Aux Barques Township in Huron County.

Chris Monroe

I was born in Michigan and have lived here for the vast majority of my life and I honestly had no idea that this place existed until recently. Not only is it the state's least-populated municipality, but it is also the third smallest township by land area. The only smaller townships in the state are Novi Township and Royal Oak Charter Township, each with a population at least 10 times larger than Pointe Aux Barques.

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The French translation of Pointe Aux Barques is "point of ships." The area was given that name as early as 1760 by French sailors. The township is 3.86 square miles in size and 2.55 square miles of that is water. Pointe Aux Barques contains 11 households and seven families within the township.

This just goes to show that we can learn something new every day about the very state we have spent our lives in. I took a piece of paper around my work building with Pointe Aux Barques written on it and not a single person knew what it actually was. While most people responded with "Point Aw Barks" I don't believe that is correct according to the searches I've done. From what I understand, it would be "Point Oh Barks." I'm a gentleman, not a scholar so take that with a grain of salt.

However, if you are one of the 15 residents of Pointe Aux Barques, please let us know how to pronounce it in the comments, you are the only ones I will trust for a definitive answer.

Source: Wikipedia

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