St. James, MI

St. James is a census-designated place on the northern end of Beaver Island in Lake Michigan, within St. James Township. The community faces southeast onto St. James Harbor, where the Beaver Island Ferry arrives from Charlevoix and where recreational boats share the water with the island's main passenger connection. Restaurants, small shops, lodging, churches, museums, marinas, and township facilities cluster around the harbor, making it the commercial center for the island's north end.

The community was settled in 1847 by James Jesse Strang's Mormon colony and first had a post office called Beaver Island in 1849. St. James later served as the county seat of Manitou County from 1855 until that county disappeared in 1895. Beaver Island Community School is located here and serves the island district, while the township maintains parks, beaches, a campground, and harbor-related facilities. Ferry schedules, weather, and the condition of the harbor shape everyday access, so St. James feels both like a village and like a working gateway to an island community.