Best Web Design in East Tawas, MI (2026)

Web Design for East Tawas, Michigan

East Tawas is a small resort city on Tawas Bay, one of the largest natural harbors on Lake Huron, on Michigan's Sunrise Coast in Iosco County. A former lumber port turned tourism town, it centers on a brick-sidewalk downtown along Newman Street and the sandy hook of Tawas Point, where an 1876 lighthouse and a birding-famous state park draw visitors year-round. Its winter ice-fishing festival, Perchville USA, is the area's biggest annual event.

AppWT serves East Tawas and the surrounding Michigan area from Livonia, Michigan.

About East Tawas

Also known as. "East town" (the historic local nickname; Tawas City was called "old town"). Part of Michigan's "Sunrise Side" / "Sunrise Coast" (the Lake Huron shore that sees the sunrise). "The Cape Cod of the Midwest" (a tourism nickname applied to the Tawas area for its beaches and lighthouse point). "The Coming Metropolis of the North" (a booster headline coined by Iosco Gazette editor C. R. Jackson in 1893).

History. Founded in 1862 when George Smith and his company settled the area to exploit its timber; the community "sprang up" in 1864. The East Tawas post office opened April 15, 1867; the town incorporated as a village in 1887 and as a city in 1895. Tawas Beach was established near the railway line in 1903 and was annexed into East Tawas in 1922. Iosco County (created 1840 as Kanotin County, renamed 1843) bears a name coined by ethnologist Henry Rowe Schoolcraft as a pseudo-Native American word said to mean "water of light." In 1893 Iosco Gazette editor C. R. Jackson ran the booster headline "EAST TAWAS: The Coming Metropolis Of the North!"

Local economy. Tourism is the town's economic backbone, with events and a downtown built to cater to seasonal visitors. Recreational fishing is a key driver; Tawas Bay is prized for perch, brown trout, walleye, lake trout and salmon. Downtown East Tawas has a roughly six-block shopping and dining district along Newman Street serving both residents and tourists. The population skews older and resort-oriented (2020 population 2,663; median age about 55.6, with roughly a third of residents 65 or older).

Culture and community. Perchville USA, an annual winter ice-fishing festival on Tawas Bay held the first week of February, is the area's most-attended event (its 76th edition ran Feb. 5-8, 2026) and includes a polar-bear swim, a Newman Street chili cook-off, live music and an ice-fishing tournament. The Tawas Point Birding Festival in mid-May celebrates spring migration, with well over 250 bird species observable at the point. Newman Street functions as a genuine walking street of shops, cafes, restaurants and candy stores running from the harbor uphill through downtown. Anglers, boaters and beachgoers define the summer culture, with Tawas Point State Park offering some of the Sunrise Coast's best shallow-water family swimming.

What makes East Tawas distinct. Nearly 300 bird species have been recorded at Tawas Point, drawing serious birders specifically for the spring and fall migration windows. Perchville USA features a polar-bear swim on the frozen bay in the dead of a northern-Michigan winter. Tawas Point Lighthouse was decommissioned in 2016 after 140 years of service and immediately became a state-run museum. Locals historically split the twin towns by calling East Tawas "east town" and neighboring Tawas City "old town."

East Tawas Landmarks and Local Life

• Tawas Point Lighthouse - a Cape Cod-style light built in 1876 that guided ships until 2016 and is now a state historic museum with an 85-step tower climb
• Tawas Point State Park - the sandy hook peninsula compared to Cape Cod, popular for swimming and birdwatching
• Newman Street historic downtown district with brick sidewalks.
• Tawas Bay - one of the largest natural harbors on Lake Huron
• The Corsair Trail system - offering roughly 44 miles of wooded hiking and ski trails inland from town