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.
I have lived in Leelanau County for 17 summers, and have spent many hours staring at North and South Manitou Islands that lay just off the county’s west coast, in Lake Michigan. I’ve long been curious as to what may be out there. Are there still buildings out on the island? Does anyone live out […]
Within one week of starting my internship at Fishtown Preservation Society, I realized what story I wanted to tell throughout this blog. With an ever-changing planet there is a growing concern about what will happen to historic sites in the future, and how to go about preserving these sites. I hope to explore what Fishtown’s […]
Jordan Evans, Fishtown Preservation, Summer 2023 I grew up in the city of Kalamazoo, Michigan, and I remember counting down the days not just for summers, but for up north summers. Living in Leelanau County every summer was a chance for me to escape reality and explore all that Northern Michigan has to offer. Full […]
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