Les Cheneaux Islands Chamber of Commerce

The mission of the Les Cheneaux Islands Chamber of Commerce is to promote a diverse, year-round economy that will provide a high quality of life for our community while preserving our natural and cultural resources.

The actual meaning of "Les Cheneaux" remains obscure due to the variant spelling of "Cheneaux," but most people, natives and seasonal visitors alike, accept that it implies "the channels," in which the earliest travelers through this area-- American Indian and then French, found shelter and safety from inclement weather conditions on the open waters of Lake Huron.

The village of Hessel was named after "Honest John" Hessel, who came into the area in about 1887, just three years after the first homesteaders staked their claims in the east portion of what is now Clark Township.

Charles and Victor Weston became the first homesteaders on the mainland of what is now Cedarville Bay in 1884, which would become the village of Cedarville.

Today, approximately 2,000 people call Clark Township home, living in the villages of Cedarville, Hessel, or residing within the Les Cheneaux Islands.