About Petoskey
Petoskey roots are traced to a settlement of the Odawa (Ottawa) tribe on Little Traverse Bay at the mouth of the Bear River. When the Village was platted in 1873 it was name “Petoskey” in honor of Chief Pe-to-se-ga (a.k.a Ignatius Petosegay) who was born in 1787 and died in 1884. “Pe-to-se-ga” means “rising sun” or “sunshine of promise.” The promise has been fulfilled and today the area is renown for its “million-dollar sunsets.”
Modern day Petoskey is the largest of the communities on the bay with a population of slightly more than 6,000. It is also the professional and commercial center of the Little Traverse Bay area drawing clients and customers not only from other towns around the bay, but from nearby Alanson, Boyne City, Indian River, Pellston and Walloon Lake as well.
Easily accessible by bike, boat, blades or Buick, downtown Petoskey is a dog-and kid-friendly place to be on any day or night of the week. Locals and tourists flock to the historic Gaslight District to make their way through an enticing array of shops, galleries, markets, bistros and restaurants of every description. Other well-established pastimes include relaxing in the many restful parks, tracing the footsteps of such notable past residents as Ernest Hemingway, Bruce Catton and Stanley Kellogg, or strolling the beautiful waterfront with its marina and nearby history museum.
Above all, Petoskey is a society of neighborhoods where, as downtown’s counterpoint, quiet tree-lined streets and manicured lawns complement beautiful Victorian homes, evoking images of times gone by.
Health care facilities and services rival those found in large metropolitan areas. A tertiary care regional referral center, Northern Michigan Hospital provides excellent medical services with 243 beds, state-of-the-art facilities and equipment, and more than 160 staff physicians.
With almost 3,000 students in five elementary schools (including a Montessori school), a middle school and high school, Petoskey is also home to St. Francis Catholic School, a small Seventh Day Adventist school and Concord Academy, a charter school emphasizing arts education for nearly 300 students. Located only one-half mile from downtown on a 280-acre campus in scenic surroundings, North Central Michigan College continues to grow and improve as demonstrated by the recent addition of an $11 million, 71,000 square foot Community and Student Resource Center.
Petoskey is a year-round community and, taken as a whole, it’s a place that just feels like home.
