Give Me a Fish Shack in Fishtown over a Fancy-Schmancy Estate Any Day
Up within the Leelanau Peninsula in the town of Leland is a section referred to as "Fishtown".....but before we get to Fishtown, let’s run down a brief history of Leland...
The first white settler in the area was Antoine Manseau in 1853, who decided to make his new home just south of an old Indian village called Shemacopink. It didn’t take long for this new community to start up a lumber company, and soon a post office was needed. Lumberman John Weber became the first postmaster from 1857-1861.
Named “Leland” after the term ‘lee land’ which meant land that was “sheltered from the wind”. Leland has also been the Leelanau County seat since 1882.
As for Fishtown:
In the centuries before the 1800s, Native Americans were the first fishermen to take advantage of the massive amounts of fish to be caught from the area. Then, once Europeans made the trek to the area in the mid-1800s, their fishermen began sailing out of the harbor into Lake Michigan to catch their limits of trout and whitefish.
Of course, they needed somewhere to process and preserve their catches, so shacks and shantys were constructed on shore along the Leland River. This area was soon referred to as "Fishtown" and today there is still a thriving fishing business; not just a fishery, but a charter service where others can rent out boats/ships and do some serious fishing.
Many of the original old fishermen shacks have been turned into local businesses, mainly for the tourist trade. Other shacks are still used as shanties and smokehouses.
Fishtown merits its own Historical Marker, which reads in part: "Small fishing shanties and related buildings such as ice and smokehouses were constructed during the peak years of the industry, which spanned the first three decades of the twentieth century. Now gray and weather-beaten, some still serve their original purpose".
It's a pretty cool, historic place to visit. When you do, grab a sandwich at the Village Cheese Shanty, which gets raves from all those who enter & eat (you'll be taking home some cheese and sausages, no doubt). Also check out the gift shops, crafts, Rick's Cafe' and Carlson's Fishery (for some smoked whitefish, jerky and pate')!
