The Gaslight District
Petoskey is a year-round resort community nestled on the shores of Lake Michigan's Little Traverse Bay. The town is known for cool comfortable lake breezes in the summer, fresh snow in the winter and many festivals and activities throughout the year. Concerts in Pennsylvania Park, dinner at The City Park Grill and lunch at Julienne Tomato are just a few of the ideas that we can tell you about. The Gaslight District of Petoskey offers unique shops such as American Spoon Foods, Kilwins Chocolates, McLean & Eakin Book Store and a beautiful children's store - The Circus Shop.
Petoskey's Waterfront
The waterfront on Little Traverse Bay is host to many activities including baseball games, concerts, the Historic Festival and the Festival on the Bay. Stop at the new Midway Munchies shop to pick up a stuffed Pita, an ice cream cone or some Dippin Dots, on your way to the waterfront. Stroll along the marina to admire the beautiful boats, bike ride to the waterfall for a picnic, let the kids play on the playground overlooking the bay or fish in the pond. Once you witness one of our Million Dollar Sunsets, listen to the sound of the Seagulls fly overhead and experience all that Petoskey has to offer, you will find that visiting will become a tradition.
Art Lovers
Petoskey's Gaslight District has become a popular destination for art lovers. You will surely find a large variety and wonderful quality in the art work that can be found in this resort town. Some of the galleries that you will love include Cold Nose Productions, Crooked Tree Arts Center, Garwood Gallery & Studio, Luciano Studio, Mitchell Street Frameworks & Gallery and Valerie: Studio & Fine Art Gallery and Northern Art. These are just a few of the stops that you will want to check out.
Petoskey has a wonderful history
The picturesque town of Petoskey, located on Little Traverse Bay, started in 1852 and was known as Bear River. Presbyterian Missionary Andrew Porter arrived and began teaching and helping the Bear River Indians. In 1873 the town began to grow. On November 25th, the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad pulled in for the first time. Within one year, Bear River was renamed Petoskey, after an Ottawa Indian Chief, Chief Pet-O-Sega. "Pet-O-Sega" means the "Rays of the Rising Sun". Soon, a store and two hotels were built and visitors began swarming to the small waterfront town.
Lumbering was a mainstay for Petoskey during the late 1800's. Lumber from our region was instrumental in helping rebuild Chicago after the Great Fire.
Passenger trains and steamships played a major role in the growth of Petoskey. The passenger depot for the Chicago and West Michigan line today houses the Little Traverse History Museum.
Petoskey's oldest building is the St. Francis Solanus Mission, built in 1859. Symons General Store, built in 1879, exemplifies the trend toward brick construction in Petoskey, an attempt to safeguard against the destruction fires caused in other area lumber towns. The building now known as Stafford's Perry Hotel was Petoskey's first brick hotel. At the turn of the century, the Perry was advertised as the only fireproof hotel in town and is the only original resort hotel still operating in Petoskey.
For more information about Petoskey's history, you may contact the Little Traverse History Museum, 231-347-2620.
1 Bedroom/1 Bath