Best Web Design in Onaway, MI (2026)
Web design for Onaway, Michigan.
Web Design for Onaway, Michigan
Onaway is a small city of about 890 people in Presque Isle County near the northern tip of the Lower Peninsula, wrapped in lakes and forest at the edge of Michigan's sturgeon country. A century ago it was an industrial powerhouse whose factories built roughly 65% of the world's wooden automobile steering wheels, earning the slogan 'Onaway Steers the World' before a catastrophic 1926 fire ended the boom. Today it trades on lake sturgeon conservation, outdoor recreation, and a giant steering-wheel sculpture that memorializes its lost heyday.
AppWT serves Onaway and the surrounding Michigan area from Livonia, Michigan.
About Onaway
Also known as. Sturgeon Capital of Michigan. Steering Wheel Capital of the World (historic). The Town That Steered the World. The Biggest Little Town in Northern Michigan (historic).
History. A farming settlement got a post office on October 23, 1882 named Shaw, after civil-engineer postmaster Thomas E. Shaw. Merritt Chandler arrived in 1886, platted the community as Onaway, and the post office took the name Onaway on March 29, 1890 (briefly renamed Adalaska 1893-1897). Incorporated as a village in 1899 and as a city in 1903; population peaked at 2,789 in 1920, roughly 4,000 counting the surrounding boomtown. Booster Merritt Chandler funded and built an imposing county courthouse in Onaway hoping to win the county seat, which instead went to Rogers City. On the morning of Thursday, January 14, 1926, fire broke out in the American Wood Rim Co. sanding machine, spread through the blowers, destroyed the factory, and killed four workers, gutting the town's main livelihood. After the fire the steering-wheel operation relocated to Alma, Michigan; the town never regained its former size.
Local economy. At its peak the American Wood Rim Co. and its sister Lobdell-Emery Manufacturing Co. together employed roughly 1,200 to 1,500 workers. American Wood Rim was billed as the world's largest and finest producer of automobile steering wheels and bicycle rims, supplying makers including General Motors, Oldsmobile, and Durant Motors. At its height the boomtown supported two newspapers, three lawyers, four doctors, three hotels, 17 saloons, nine churches, an opera house, and a racetrack. Modern economy centers on outdoor recreation, tourism, forestry, and farming; Onaway is a gateway to Black Lake and the North Eastern State Trail. Lake sturgeon conservation is a local identity: a streamside rearing hatchery on the nearby Black River raises baby sturgeon that migrate to Black Lake and, via the Cheboygan River, to Lake Huron. Onaway remains an economically modest community; 2000 census median household income was about $20,787.
Culture and community. Onaway bills itself as the 'Sturgeon Capital of Michigan,' tied to Black Lake's lake sturgeon and annual sturgeon-season traditions. Local newspapers include the weekly Onaway Outlook and Presque Isle County Advance. Awakon Park hosts a hidden iron-sculpture collection by local artist Tom Moran, including his 30-foot-tall 'World's Largest Steering Wheel' built in 2014. Booster Marshall Whitshire coined the slogan 'Onaway Steers the World' and was paid $5 by the Chamber of Commerce for it. The community sits at the junction of highways M-33 and M-68, with M-211 terminating in town, funneling northern-Michigan travelers through the area.
What makes Onaway distinct. Despite the name, Onaway State Park is not in Onaway proper - it sits several miles away on Black Lake. The town once produced an estimated 65% of the world's wooden automobile steering wheels. Onaway State Park is one of the oldest units in Michigan's state park system. Onaway's automotive fortune was built on wood and bicycle rims, not steel, and it fed truck parts to the U.S. effort in World War I. The giant steering wheel is a 2014 sculpture, a modern tribute rather than a surviving factory artifact.
Onaway Landmarks and Local Life
- Awakon Park - riverside sculpture park with Tom Moran's 30-foot World's Largest Steering Wheel and giant metal-head sculptures, set behind ruins of the Lobbell-Emery steering-wheel factory
- Onaway State Park - a 158-acre park on the southeast shore of Black Lake in Presque Isle County, known for cobblestone shoreline and large rock outcroppings
- Presque Isle County Courthouse (the courthouse Merritt Chandler built).
- Black River Sturgeon Hatchery / streamside rearing facility just outside town.
- Ruins of the Lobdell-Emery / American Wood Rim wooden steering-wheel factory.
What AppWT Web & AI Solutions Builds for Onaway Businesses
AI-first web design, SEO with GEO and AIVO, voice-search readiness and ongoing care. See the full service list.
Frequently Asked Questions - Web Design in Onaway
Which web design company works with Onaway businesses?
Ask who owns the code afterwards. AppWT Web & AI Solutions is a Michigan agency serving Onaway and clients nationwide. AIVO, GEO and voice search are part of the build, not an upsell.
Does the service reach Onaway?
Yes. The agency is a Michigan agency serving Onaway and clients nationwide.
Will a Onaway site show up in AI answers?
Yes. Pages that mention Awakon Park and the streets around it outrank generic ones.
