Documentary Photo Credits

Our image standard

Named towns, landmarks, species, and historical subjects use authentic documentary or archival imagery whenever a suitable licensed source exists. Where no honest photograph is available, we use an authoritative map, a clearly identified archival record, or an image that is visibly illustrative rather than pretending it is the real location.

Silver Lake and Hart

• Silver Lake Sand Dunes: “Silver Lake Dunes Michigan 2,” Dale Fisher for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 1986. Public domain. View the source file.
• Downtown Hart: “Hart, Michigan,” WMrapids, 2025. Dedicated to the public domain under CC0 1.0. View the source file.

Silver Lake State Park Campground

Source asset: SilverLake_E-8899.jpg, Tyler Leipprandt / Michigan Sky Media LLC, photographed in cooperation with Michigan DNR at Silver Lake State Park in 2019.

The photograph is published in the Michigan DNR Public Portfolio, which the DNR identifies as available for public and commercial use.

Mears and Shelby

• Charles Mears Boarding House: rossograph, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. This surviving building in Mears provides a documentary connection to the area's logging history. View the source file.
• Downtown Shelby: TCP04, July 2026, licensed under CC BY 4.0. View the source file.
• Little Sable Point Lighthouse: AaronJoePick, photographed August 2016 and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. View the source file.

Exact business location maps

No suitable reusable documentary photographs were available for The Fox Barn Marketplace & Winery or Cherry Point Farm & Market. Their story cards use exact-location maps instead of invented storefronts. Map data is from OpenStreetMap contributors under the Open Database License.

Illustrations

Images not listed above are original atmosphere illustrations created for this guide. They are not documentary photographs and are not intended to represent an exact storefront, sign, trail, access point, or current condition.