Web Design in Petoskey, MI

Petoskey, Michigan

Petoskey is in Emmet County, with approximately 6,000 residents.

Well-Known Places in Petoskey

Gaslight District, Little Traverse History Museum, Petoskey State Park.

Petoskey Business Districts

• Gaslight District Downtown
• US-31 Corridor
• Mitchell Street

Major Employers in Petoskey

McLaren Northern Michigan, Petoskey Public Schools, Tourism industry.

About Petoskey, Michigan

Petoskey is a Victorian-era resort city on the southern shore of Little Traverse Bay and the seat of Emmet County. Named for Odawa Chief Ignatius Petosega, it is famous for the Petoskey stone (Michigan's state stone, a fossil coral that looks like sun rays) and for the summers a young Ernest Hemingway spent nearby on Walloon Lake. Its Gaslight District shopping streets and the Bay View Chautauqua colony make it one of northern Michigan's signature tourist towns.

History of Petoskey

• Originally the village of Bear River; a Presbyterian missionary arrived in the early 1850s and the settlement took the name of Odawa Chief Ignatius Petosega (1787-1885).
• Growth accelerated when the railroad reached the area in 1873; Hirem Rose built the first dock that year along with early stores, lime quarries and the Arlington Hotel.
• Incorporated as a village in 1879 and as a city in 1895; became the Emmet County seat in 1902.

Landmarks and Places in Petoskey

• The Gaslight District, a historic downtown shopping area of more than 100 preserved 19th- and 20th-century buildings.
• Bay View, a National Historic Landmark district of hundreds of Victorian 'gingerbread' cottages just east of downtown.
• Little Traverse History Museum, housed in the former Pere Marquette railroad depot on the waterfront.

The Petoskey Economy

• Tourism and resort hospitality have been the economic backbone since the 1870s railroad boom.
• North Central Michigan College is based in Petoskey.
• Bayfront Park's marina (144 slips, Michigan Clean Marina-certified) supports boating and recreation on Little Traverse Bay.

Community Life in Petoskey

• The Bay View Association hosts a summer music festival billed as the longest-running such festival in the United States, plus theater, a lecture series and Sunday Vesper concerts.
• Downtown events include the Winter Carnival/Winter Blues Festival, Art in the Park, twice-weekly summer Concerts in the Park and sidewalk sales.
• Ernest Hemingway spent boyhood summers on nearby Walloon Lake, set his Nick Adams stories in the area, and worked on 'The Torrents of Spring' in Petoskey.

Local reference: en.wikipedia.org, www.petoskeychamber.com, www.bayviewassociation.org