Why is Marquette Called Michigan’s Queen City?

Many Michigan cities have nicknames most famously being Motown and Motor City for Detroit. How did Marquette come to be the Queen City?

What may be surprising is that there are several Queen Cities around America. Buffalo, New York is a Queen City. So are Cincinnati (Queen City of the West) and Charlotte. There are even former Queen Cities - Denver was once the Queen City of the Plains and Seattle was Queen City of the Pacific Northwest.

So where do the Queen City designations come from. Maybe the most deserving of the title is Charlotte, North Carolina. A city named for an actual queen. Buffalo derives its name for being 'second' city in New York State to New York City. Cities like Cincinnati (...of the West) or Denver (...of the Plains) take the Queen title to show their prominence over a particular region.

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And that's how Marquette comes to earn the title. Queen City of the North or perhaps Queen City of Lake Superior to define the region where it has prominence as it's the largest city in the Upper Peninsula despite not being anywhere near the largest city in Michigan.

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The city bears its Queen City of the North somewhat quietly these days. Beyond a Queen City Running Company and a likely related half marathon, there are few other nods to the Queen City name.

And that's a shame. While the nickname is shared with several other towns, it's a proud one that Marquette should champion once again.