Circling the incredible spender of Lake Michigan’s Little Traverse Bay, the communities of Charlevoix, Bay Harbor, Petoskey and Harbor Springs stand out like precious gems in a necklace.  Each with its own history and unique character, these former outposts, tribal settlements and quarries at the water’s edge comprise the best of what the Little Traverse Bay community has to offer today’s residents and visitors.

It is believed that the first human explorers arrived in the Little Traverse Bay area about 3,000 B.C. At that time hardwood forests predominated in Northern Michigan and water covered a greater expanse than today, with the bay extending north of Petoskey to Round Lake.  Centuries later, early French fur traders and missionaries called the area “L’arbre Croche” (“Crooked Tree”) after a tall tree on a high bluff that was used as a landmark for approaching canoes.

Beginning in the 19th century, with the advancement of rail and lake steamer transportation, the first adventurous tourist arrived from the stifling, smoke-filled and noisy cities of the industrial Midwest. The unparalleled natural beauty and comforting solitude that continue to draw visitors and summer residents to Northern Michigan were absolutely compelling in the 1800’s but visitors soon discovered an additional characteristic of the Little Traverse Bay area:  the healthful climate.  Hay fever and asthma sufferers arrived in the early summer and stayed until late fall to find relief from their symptoms with the pure, clean Northern Michigan air and waters.

For over 150 years, generations of resorters and gently growing numbers of residents and tourist have found sanctuary and an active outdoor lifestyle coexisting within the Little Traverse Bay community.  And now that you are here we hope you will stay awhile and let us show you around…perhaps learn why so many people often remark, “I don’t think God is making anymore place’s like this.”