Fishtown is a unique historical attraction composed of weather-beaten fishing shanties and small shops lining the mouth of the Leland River. The site has endured and adapted over the last 150 years as an ever-evolving working waterfront that still operates as one of the only unmodernized commercial fishing villages in the state of Michigan.
Click to see the shanty photo gallery
One of the most important characteristics of Fishtown is its core of historic shanties. Though only a few are still used for commercial fishing operations, most of the structures in Fishtown had their origins as commercial fishing buildings. These buildings served many purposes, including net-mending sheds, ice houses, smoke houses, and storage. Though processes like ice-making are now mechanized in a commercial fishery, running a fishery still requires extensive space for equipment storage and net repairs.
Many buildings have come and gone from the Fishtown landscape with the changing fortunes of the industry, yet Fishtown survives as a rare working waterfront and an authentic and active commercial fishing village.
Summer is officially in full swing here in Leland, Michigan. With the summer solstice having come and gone and July peeking around the corner, we have officially entered the busiest time of the year for Fishtown. My weekend was happily spent on Vans beach getting absolutely ROASTED by the sun, and if this summer has […]
If I’ve learned anything in the last month, it’s that there’re people in Fishtown who love the sport of fishing, those who find it boring and can’t get far enough away from the smell that comes with it, and then there’s Joel. Joel Petersen, Captain of the trap netter Joy, eats, sleeps, and breathes fishing, and […]
I feel like there’s been a lot of weird weather this week, but I’ve enjoyed the haziness that’s been hanging over Leland recently. It gives Fishtown this mysterious allure and I’m really into it. I’m lucky that I’ve lived here for long enough that I’ve seen Fishtown on countless sunny days. It’s times when the […]
It’s come to my attention over the last couple of weeks that the Leland Harbor (right next to our beloved Fishtown) is not only a popular launching point into Lake Michigan for summer boaters and fishing enthusiasts – but also for the DNR, National Park Service, and scientists from all over the Great Lakes. While […]
