This village was originally a lumberjack settlement on the shore of Lake Huron named "Bark Shanty."
In the late 1840s and 1850s, the settlement gained its first sawmill, schoolhouse, and general store.
In 1854, Bark Shanty's first post office opened.
In 1857 the village was renamed to Port Sanilac, as it is in Sanilac Township in Sanilac County.
Local legend attributes the name to a Wyandotte Indian Chief named Sanilac.
 See List of Michigan county name etymologies.

Local landmarks include the Port Sanilac lighthouse (burning kerosene from its opening in 1886 until its electrification in 1924) and a twenty-room Victorian mansion (now the Sanilac County Museum) built in 1872 by a horse-and-buggy doctor, Dr. Joseph Loop.

The Sanilac Shores Underwater Preserve is a designated ship wreck preserve that is very popular with scuba divers.
This village was originally a lumberjack settlement on the shore of Lake Huron named "Bark Shanty." In the late 1840s and 1850s, the settlement gained its first sawmill, schoolhouse, and general store. In 1854, Bark Shanty's first post office opened. In 1857 the village was renamed to Port Sanilac, as it is in Sanilac Township in Sanilac County. Local legend attributes the name to a Wyandotte Indian Chief named Sanilac.  See List of Michigan county name etymologies.
Local landmarks include the Port Sanilac lighthouse (burning kerosene from its opening in 1886 until its electrification in 1924) and a twenty-room Victorian mansion (now the Sanilac County Museum) built in 1872 by a horse-and-buggy doctor, Dr. Joseph Loop.
The Sanilac Shores Underwater Preserve is a designated ship wreck preserve that is very popular with scuba divers.
Port Sanilac, Michigan