Little Traverse Bay
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Little Traverse Bay | |
|---|---|
| Petite Traverse Bay[1] | |
 Little Traverse Bay at sunset, viewed from Petoskey | |
  Little Traverse Bay  Little Traverse Bay | |
| Location | Charlevoix & Emmet counties, Michigan, U.S. |
| Coordinates | 45°24′N 85°00′W / 45.4°N 85°W |
| Type | Bay[1] |
| Part of | St. Lawrence Watershed |
| Primary inflows | Bear River |
| Primary outflows | Lake Michigan |
| Surface elevation | 581 feet (177 m)[1] |
| Islands | none |
| Settlements | Harbor Springs, Petoskey |
Little Traverse Bay (/ˈtrævərs/ TRAV-ərss) is a small open bay of Lake Michigan. Extending about 10 miles (16 km) into the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, much of the head of the land surrounding Little Traverse Bay, and has become part of the urban areas of Petoskey and Harbor Springs. Little Traverse Bay primarily lies within Emmet County, although a small portion lies within Charlevoix County.
Harbor Springs, a settlement on the bay, originated as L'arbre de Croche, (Crooked Tree) a French Jesuit mission village to serve the Odawa people bands in the area. After the British took over the territory, the village was renamed in English. The federally recognized Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians have their headquarters here. They have land here, and additional land and a gaming casino in Petoskey.
The Little Traverse Light marks the entrance at Harbor Springs to the smaller harbor within the bay.[2]
After the Odawa bands in northern Michigan were persuaded to cede considerable lands to the United States, the Little Traverse Bay region was developed by Illinois land developers and resort founders, such as lawyers Henry Stryker III and Henry Brigham McClure, and the Capps family of Jacksonville, Illinois and woolen mills fame. The Stryker, Capps, and McClure families were interconnected with the Jacob Bunn industrial dynasty of Chicago and Springfield, Illinois.
The bay has also been used as a refuge by Great Lakes freighters during severe weather.[3][4]
