Little Traverse Bay, Past and Present

3. Summer Communities

Summer Communities 214 Summer Communities Summer Communities 215 ith improvements in transportation and with the area becoming increasingly popular with visitors, summer communities grew around the bay. Rather than stay only for a short while, families were encouraged to spend their entire summers far from the stifling heat and humidity of midwestern cities. Middle- and upper-class families enjoyed nature and summer society in cottages that would be shut up at the end of the season, not used again until the next summer. In most cases these dwellings were relatively inexpensive to maintain. For summer use only, they did not need to be heated through frigid northern winters, and they were typically furnished with cast-off furniture from their owners’ primary home—a tradition that continues today. Likewise, clothing was more casual; there was not an expectation that the same standards of formality that obtained back home. It should be noted, however, that while life was leisurely for the summer visitors, it was anything but for the locals whose hard work (often behind the scenes) served the needs of these long-term vacationers—that made for long hours and personal sacrifices. Because the local economy was so dependent on the summer trade, it was crucial to earn as much as possible then to make it through the slow off-season months.This remains a familiar theme today. Some of these cottages were and are in formal “associations” located on the shores of LittleTraverse Bay.These associations were formed when individuals decided to join together as a group under mutually agreed-upon guidelines and beliefs to purchase and jointly enjoy a parcel of land. Some were religious in origin (BayView andWequetonsing) and others not (Harbor Point).While rules might vary, they do have in common that the associations (rather than individuals) own the property on which cottages and public buildings are built.This structure allows for shared responsibility and benefits and has resulted in generations of families continuing to celebrate their common bonds. W ...