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.
FPS is pleased to announce a new book about Fishtown. Author Laurie Kay Sommers guides readers through the sights, sounds and smells of Fishtown’s long and varied history. The richly illustrated book will be available wherever books are sold.
You know that you enjoy Fishtown – and so does a family of river otters. The otters play and swim throughout Fishtown, lured by the great tasting fish and swift current of the Leland River. When you and your family walk the Fishtown docks this summer, keep alert for the otters along the river bank […]
Tara Novak, Fishtown Preservation’s first intern, came to Fishtown for the first time almost twenty years ago. Her father brought her here, and it helped them form “a special connection.”
Historic Fishtown has been nominated for the Dwell Magazine Preservation award. Your vote will help to award $10,000 to Fishtown Preservation!
