| Mayfield, Michigan | |
| Settlement Type: | Unincorporated community |
| Nickname: | "Birthplace of the Adams Fly" |
| Pushpin Map: | Michigan#USA |
| Pushpin Label: | Mayfield |
| Pushpin Label Position: | left |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Grand Traverse |
| Subdivision Type3: | Township |
| Subdivision Name3: | Paradise |
| Established Title: | Settled |
| Established Date: | 1868 |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Elevation Ft: | 837 |
| Timezone: | Eastern (EST) |
| Utc Offset: | -5 |
| Timezone Dst: | EDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -4 |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP code(s) |
| Postal Code: | 49666 49649 (Kingsley) 49696 (Traverse City) |
| Area Code: | 231 |
| Blank Name: | GNIS feature ID |
| Blank Info: | 631772 |
Mayfield is an unincorporated community in Grand Traverse County in the U.S. state of Michigan.[1] It is located in Paradise Township between Kingsley and Traverse City along South Garfield Road (County Road 611). As an unincorporated community, Mayfield has no legally defined boundaries or population statistics of its own.
The land on which Mayfield sits has long been territory under the Council of Three Fires; the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi.
In 1868, a sawmill was built upon Swainston Creek, a tributary of the Boardman River. Later, a grist mill was built, and the settlement was named Beulah. However, in 1869, the community was awarded a post office under the name of Mayfield, named after the adjacent township.[2] In 1872, a line of the Pennsylvania Railroad was extended from Cadillac via Walton and Mayfield to Traverse City.[3]
In 1922, Leonard Halladay, a Michigan fly tyer from Mayfield, conceived the popular Adams Fly as a general mayfly imitation. It was first fished by an Ohio attorney and friend of Halladay, Judge Charles F. Adams on the Boardman River near Traverse City. Charles Adams reported his success with the fly to Halladay who named the fly after his friend.[4] [5] For this reason, Mayfield is known as the "Birthplace of the Adams Fly".[6]
In 1961, Mayfield Pond, the small impoundment on Swainston Creek, was washed out in a rainstorm, subsequently leading to the failure of the Keystone Dam, upstream on the Boardman River. In 1987, the pond nearly failed again, but a washout was prevented.[7]