The Campaign for Fishtown — Report from the Docks
Few commercial fishing sites still exist on the Great Lakes and Fishtown is unique as a place that both attracts more than 300,000 visitors a year and remains a working waterfront with an active commercial fishery. Since 2007, Fishtown Preservation has built an effective and successful historic preservation organization and has been devoted to the care of Fishtown.
The Campaign for Fishtown began in 2017 as Fishtown Preservation looked ahead to resolving increasingly precarious infrastructure issues in Fishtown at the same time as needing to pay off the debt associated with the original 2007 purchase of the Carlson family properties in Fishtown.
A precarious situation
High water levels and increased flow over the Leland Dam beginning spring 2019 exacerbated issues to shanties that were already in critical condition (Village Cheese, Carlson’s Fishery, Morris Shanty) at the same time as causing damage to additional structures (Ice House, Otherside, Diversions, Welcome Center, Dam Candy) and started to wash away the docks on both sides of the river.
We knew that we had to expand our goals for the Campaign for Fishtown and brace ourselves for some very heavy lifting and set a new goal of $5,290,000. With the help of more than 800 donors, we met our campaign goal in 2022 but have continued to do the work funded by the Campaign into the present day, most recently with the rehabilitation of the Ice House in 2025.
The water levels have now long gone down from their record-breaking highs of 2020, but the damage was extensive and has taken more than seven years to repair. As we have completed each stage of this work, we have also made certain to prepare for future high waters.
In everything we do, it is our goal to keep Fishtown here for future generations, including its history, its stories, and all that makes it a vibrant place that people of all ages treasure.
Campaign for Fishtown project details
The comprehensive Campaign for Fishtown consolidated Fishtown’s pressing infrastructure and financial needs, including:
- Rehabilitate eight structures, the shanties housing the Village Cheese Shanty, Carlson’s Fishery, and Diversions, as well as the Ice House, the Morris Shanty, The Otherside, Welcome Center and Dam Candy;
- Resolve infrastructure issues related to water flow, update utilities, improve public access to the site, and reintroduce native species to the landscape;
- Repay the final installment of the debt incurred in connection with the acquisition of our Fishtown properties(completed 2019);
- Build an endowment to ensure that Fishtown Preservation can protect and care for Fishtown now and into the future.
The real highlights, though, are the incredible construction crews who have done the work that the Campaign for Fishtown has funded, and everyone who contributed financially to make this monumental effort possible.
Those that helped fund the project are part of a dedicated group of individuals, families and foundations who are preserving one of Michigan’s greatest treasures. Fishtown is a place where generations come and where the past and future are both alive.
Gifts of $20,000 or more will be honored on our permanent donor wall in Fishtown. The display will be integrated into the design of the reconfigured retaining wall and entrance area.
What’s next? A new home for Fishtown Preservation in 2026
With the wrapping of the Campaign for Fishtown projects and improvements, Fishtown Preservation is now poised to embrace the opportunities of the future, starting with the 2025 purchase and future restoration of the Van Raalte House.
We welcome the Van Raalte House as the future home of Fishtown Preservation. The house on S. Lake Street was built to provide a home to a family central to life in Leland, and we are embracing that spirit as we transform their longtime home into a place central to the future of Fishtown.
Van Raalte House will allow us to add research, volunteer, internship, and apprenticeship components to what we do. We will also have space from which to develop expanded interpretation, displays, and educational programming. And the staff will finally be physically present on the edge of Fishtown itself, and with sufficient space for operational activities as well as archival storage.
We also envision additional growth related to caring for our vessels, commercial fishing, and the Great Lakes environment. Our goal is to be ambitious but also flexible. The future will bring possibilities we can’t yet foresee, and we want the Van Raalte House to serve both the present and the future of Fishtown.
For more information about Van Raalte House or to make a donation, please visit the webpage: Van Raalte House
If you have questions about making a gift for the ongoing work of preserving Fishtown, would like to review your past gifts to FPS, or would like to discuss naming Fishtown Preservation in your planned giving, please contact Amanda Holmes, aholmes@fishtownmi.org, 231-256-8878.