Orchard Lake — Visitors curious about the small island in the middle of Orchard Lake in Oakland County got a chance to explore it Sunday and learn about its history and features.

Once a year, the Greater West Bloomfield Historical Society offers free tours of Apple Island. Believed to have once been inhabited by native Americans and later used as a seasonal retreat for a Detroit family and their friends, it's now owned by the West Bloomfield School District. It's kept as a nature preserve with several archaeological sites by the school district.

The island, accessible only by boat, stretches 3/8 of a mile long. It is unique "in that it contains examples of every type of ecological system identified within the southeastern Michigan region," according to the historical society.

"It is ho

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