Is the Truest ‘Yooper’ Someone Who Has Never Left the Keweenaw Peninsula in Northern Michigan?

The residents of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Yoopers, are a hearty bunch. They survive some of the most brutal winters anywhere in the nation. They live in a vast and isolated region where the distance between cities can often be measured in hours.

The UP can be a dream getaway vacation for some and an asperation to relocate for others.

There's special nomenclature that is given to those who move to the Upper Peninsula. Coming from below the Mackinac Bridge, those who live in Michigan's Lower Peninsula are often referred to, often without derision, as "Trolls." A troll who settles in the UP and becomes a Yooper? They, of course, become "Troopers."

So there is pride is being a life-long Yooper. But even the Upper Peninsula has an 'Upper Peninsula' - that's the Keweenaw Peninsula. In the Northwestern UP, the Keweenaw juts far into Lake Superior. It is even more sparsely populated than the rest of the UP.

Going beyond the Mackinac Bridge that separates the Upper and Lower Peninsulas, consider the Portage Lift Bridge between Houghton and Hancock that separates the Keweenaw.

READ MORE: Could an Auto Tunnel Replace the Mackinac Bridge Between Michigan's Peninsulas?

Imagine the pride of place is someone has never ventured south of the Portage Lift Bridge. That's exactly the idea raised recently on social media.

In a story we published discussing a class of Michigan residents who had no interest in seeing the Mackinac Bridge (and therefore the other peninsula of their home state), this comment made us take notice:

I know a old timer who has never been south of the bridge. The Portage bridge

Life in Michigan If You've Never Left the Keweenaw Peninsula

That's incredible: Someone who was born in the Keweenaw and never left. The portion of the peninsula north of the Portage Lift Bridge is home to a very small amount of people. All of Keweenaw County is 2,046 people, the least populated in the state. Add in the townships of Houghton County that exist north of the Portage Lift Bridge (Quincy, Franklin, Hancock, Osceola, Calumet, Schoolcraft and Torch Lake) as well as the city of Hancock and the total Michigan population north of the northern Keweenaw: 20,829.

That's roughly the size of cities like Monroe, Marquette, Adrian or Ypsilanti.

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It boils down to what you want out of life. A life confined to the Keweenaw Peninsula feels somewhat claustrophobic and missing a far greater part of the wider world.

Others may feel drawn to the deep isolation of a Keweenaw-exclusive life. That attraction, perhaps, having lived in a vastly different world.

Is there truly someone who has never left the Keweenaw in their entire life? Out of a population of more than 20,000, yes, it's likely, but perhaps improbably to think someone has never made a trip down to at least Houghton for shopping, dining, medical or any other necessity.