Fishtown is a collection of weathered fishing shanties, smokehouses, overhanging docks, fish tugs and charter boats along the Leland River in Leland, Michigan. The heart of a commercial fishing village, Fishtown is where we can still see and feel a connection to the long tradition of Great Lakes maritime culture.
Learn More
Fishtown Preservation is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to preserving the historical integrity of Fishtown and ensuring that it continues as a publicly accessible and authentic connection to local and regional history, Great Lakes commercial fishing, and maritime traditions and experiences.
Learn More
Few places are as real as Fishtown. Here we can preserve a living link to a long Great Lakes maritime heritage, as well as to our own families and memories. We want to ensure that Fishtown remains alive for future generations. Your participation will make all the difference for Fishtown.
Learn More
It Takes a Village ~ Community Day of Giving During the Heritage Festival the Leland Chamber is hosting a “Community Day of Giving” in support of Fishtown Preservation’s Campaign for Fishtown. Leland businesses have developed promotions (of their choice) to benefit the campaign. We hope you’ll enjoy looking for window signs indicating participating businesses, and taking part in […]
Thank you to everyone that supported Fishtown Preservation—as a Fishtown 5K participant, volunteer, sponsor or cheerleader. All that were involved helped make this year’s 5K a record breaker, which is critical to preserving Fishtown. This year our Fish Costume Contest was also a great success, and so much fun. Dozens of racers wore “fish” attire. […]
By Claire Kurnick Since the age of five I have joined my family for the packed car ride north from suburban Detroit to enjoy the bliss and peace of summers in Leland. After my parents’ divorce, my mother wanted to leave Bloomfield Hills and move north, but it wasn’t until she became an empty nester […]
Love Fishtown Week Fishtown Preservation completed the Fishtown mortgage on February 7, 2019! In celebration, we declared February 7–16, 2019 ~ Love Fishtown Week. The shanty rooftops were relit* with the addition of a big red heart from February 7 through February 16. On Thursday, February 14, 2019, we celebrated this important milestone in Fishtown. We […]
Fishtown Preservation completed the Fishtown mortgage on February 7, 2019! In celebration, we declared February 7–16, 2019 ~ Love Fishtown Week! The shanty rooftops were relit* with the addition of a big red heart from February 7 through February 16. On Thursday, February 14, 2019, we celebrated this important milestone in Fishtown. We offered tributes, […]
Leland’s New Harbor The waves lately have been crashing over the harbor wall. Imagine how the open waters of Lake Michigan battered Fishtown and its commercial fishermen for more than one-hundred years before the Harbor of Refuge was built in the late 1960s. The Carlson Family had just acquired the white shanty and moved and […]
Having Fun in Fishtown The young girl pictured aboard the Helen S (built in Fishtown in 1927) is Patty (Dunshee) Shea. Patty brought the photo to our office in 2007. The Helen S was built in Fishtown in 1927 by John Johnson for commercial fisherman Hank Steffens, Sr. The fishing tug was named after Hank […]
This holiday season Fishtown Preservation has lit the rooftops of Leland’s Historic Fishtown with strings of white lights to celebrate our donors, volunteers, and everyone who has made the last twelve years of saving Fishtown possible. The light display continues nightly through January 6, 2019 ~ 5:00pm-10:00pm. FPS turned on the lights on December 14 […]
Thanks to everyone that came out to support Fishtown Preservation—as a racer, volunteer, sponsor or cheerleader. All that are involved make this event a huge success in helping to preserve Fishtown. In celebration of our 10th Annual Fishtown 5K, we declared 2018 the “Year of the Tug.” We had two tug costume workshops before […]
