By the late 1800s Leland was home to a small fleet of fishing vessels. These early fishermen set their nets offshore in open wood mackinaw boats rigged with sails. By 1905 the fishermen began to replace the sails in their mackinaw boats with gas-powered engines. The new engines and the addition of protective cabins enabled the fishermen to fish farther from port, in more inclement weather, and for more of the year.
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Diesel eventually replaced gas and new machinery was added to newly built tugs that made the fishermen increasingly efficient at catching fish, but wood tugs still reigned in Fishtown until the late 1950s. In 1958 the Steffens and Stallman families dedicated two new fish tugs in Leland. With these boats, the Janice Sue and the Mary Ann, commercial fishing in Leland left the world of wood boats and entered the world of steel, with hulls specially designed for the rigors of this part of the Great Lakes. Janice Sue has served in Leland ever since. Trap net fishing began in Leland in 1982, with the launch of the hand-crafted steel tug, the Joy.
One of the most important parts of Fishtown’s history and present are fish and fishing. In a previous blog, I dive into this history after working for a day at Carlson’s Fishery here in Fishtown. My experience at Carlson’s was amazing and I learned so much about the history of the business and of commercial […]
The Crib sits in the middle of the Manitou Passage of Lake Michigan, eight miles offshore from Leland, Michigan, and one mile offshore from North Manitou Island. The official name of the lighthouse is the North Manitou Shoal Light, denoting the hazardous shallow shoal area southeast of the island. More than ten years ago I […]
The Friends of Fishtown 5K is an annual event that is eagerly anticipated each year by local residents and Fishtown visitors. Prior to my arrival at Fishtown Preservation Society (FPS), the Friends of Fishtown 5K, in its 15th year, was the event that I was most excited to experience behind the scenes. I’ve never run […]
Working as an intern gives lots of behind-the-scenes experience of what it takes to run a non-profit organization. In late June I learned first-hand that no place like Fishtown can survive, let alone thrive, without its ardent supporters. On Wednesday June 28th, Fishtown Preservation Society threw a celebration to honor the major contributors to the […]
