The bay, consisting of approximately 30,000 acres (120 km2), is enclosed by Delta County.

The bay's name comes from the Noquet (or Noc) Native American people (thought to have been related to the Menominee of the Algonquian language group), who once lived along the shores.

Douglass Houghton came to Sand Point (in Escanaba) in 1844 with his party of government surveyors to chart the land to the north.

Senator from Minnesota, William D. Washburn, to serve as a rail-lake terminal for lumber products.

The Escanaba, Days, Tacoosh, Rapid, and Whitefish rivers all drain into the bay.