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.
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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.
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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.
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Discovering Fishing Tales and Art Inspiration Gabrielle Grobbel – Fishtown Preservation Fishtown is a place built upon endless stories. After digging through a few history books on Fishtown, I realize I have only touched the surface. The characters and tales I’ve read about are beginning to stray from the pages as I continue to explore, […]
The First Week in Fishtown Gabrielle Grobbel – Fishtown Preservation I can’t help but feel at home as I am guided among the bustling Fishtown shanties for the first time. The worn docks and buildings speak of the strength of this ever-changing village, but also of the love that goes into keeping them there. I […]
We are pleased to present our Fishtown Video, featuring YOU! We asked for recent and special photos and received over 500 submissions, featuring everything from glimpses of summer 2020 to treasured family memories spanning decades. One thing is certain, Fishtown is a place that lights up faces. Your smiles are contagious. Thank you to everyone […]
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 […]
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, […]
It was late November 2015, and Joy was heading inland for the latest round of maintenance and improvements Fishtown Preservation has undertaken over the past ten years
Don’t change anything. Many people—maybe most—thought that was our mission when the Fishtown Preservation Society (FPS) purchased the core historic part of Fishtown in February 2007.
Painting Fishtown has long been a Leland tradition, thanks to the long history of the Old Art Building.
Several years ago longtime Fishtown fisherman Alan Priest said, “That’s my home down there. It means the whole world to me. It’s not just a place—that’s my whole world.” For more people than we can know that is what Fishtown is: More than a place. A whole world.
