Little Traverse Bay, Past and Present

Leaders

Leaders 3 iram O. Rose must have been extremely pleased and excited as he walked Petoskey’s bustling streets in 1900.The village was exploding with activity and he was largely responsible for it. Just twentyfive years before, Bear River (as the settlement was known) consisted of only a few white settlers living on the river’s west bank and local Native Americans who had for years congregated there. In 1852 Andrew Porter founded a Presbyterian mission and school there, and he had been joined in 1864 by Hazen Ingalls who, with his family, owned a lumber mill on the river. Now the village center had shifted east, and Petoskey had six thousand year-round residents, welcoming at least an additional fifty thousand summer visitors. It boasted fourteen hotels that could together accommodate two thousand guests—and offer them fresh lobster dinners and entertainment provided by the hotels’orchestras. There was also an opera house (where MarkTwain had spoken), three railroad stations constantly filled with passengers and freight, and dozens of businesses catering to people’s every need and want. So what had caused this dramatic growth? In fact, it was a combination of local and regional factors that transformed the entire LittleTraverse Bay region and created an economy that remains in place today. An important figure in the city’s history is its namesake, Ignatius Petoskey (Neyas Pe-to-se-gay). Said to have been born in 1787 to Kes-way-gah, a Native American woman, and Antoine Carré, a French fur trader working for John Jacob Astor at Mackinac Island. Petoskey became a successful fur trader himself and, after living at Middle H Leaders (Courtesy of Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University) 4 Introduction Village and then LittleTraverse (Harbor Springs), he built a home at the Bear River’s mouth in the 1830s. He acquired land east of the river, using provisions of a treaty between the Native Americans and the U.S. government and his own resources, and before long he and his family owned hundreds of acres.With the arrival of the railroad and hundreds of prospective land buyers (like Hiram Rose), the Petoskey family became wealthy. Before his death in 1885 Petoskey, known as “Chief” Petoskey, had given the town its name. Hiram Obed Rose was another early leader in Petoskey’s rapid development. Born in Niagara County, NewYork, in 1830, he moved as a child to Coldwater, Michigan. In 1852 he joined thousands of other young men in the California gold rush, returning to Michigan with enough money to start a career. His first business Ignatius Petoskey (center) with sons Louis (left) and Enos (right) in the doorway of Bazil Petoskey’s store on Lake Street, 1878. (Courtesy of Little Traverse Historical Society) H.O. Rose’s home on Arlington Avenue. (Courtesy of Little Traverse Historical Society) Leaders 5 venture was at Northport, where he invested in lumber and a store, eventually constructing a dock and warehouse. From there he moved on toTraverse City and then Charlevoix, where he partnered with Amos Fox in several businesses. Soon his thoughts turned further north—to the limestone cliffs at what is now Petoskey. He knew that there would soon be a rail line running to LittleTraverse Bay and that a shrewd businessman could be very successful. In the summer of 1873, Rose relocated, buying two hundred waterfront acres from Ignatius Petoskey and opening a makeshift store in Petoskey’s home. He then likely used his influence with the railroad Above: Hiram Obed Rose. (Courtesy of Little Traverse Historical Society) At right: Ignatius Petoskey’s home, Lake Street. (Courtesy of Little Traverse Historical Society) 6 Introduction company to locate the railroad terminal (and therefore, eventually, the city center) east of Bear River rather than west, where Andrew Porter and Hazen Ingalls’s small Bear River settlement was.The decision to place the depot on what soon became Lake Street was very advantageous to both Rose and Ignatius Petoskey, who owned most of the adjacent land. Rose built a beautiful home and became a significant force in Petoskey’s early development until his death in 1911. In 1874 he opened a store on Mitchell Street, built a dock, and founded the Michigan Limestone Company. In 1883 he traded property for a 25 percent share in the new luxurious Arlington Hotel, and when the hotel expanded in 1897, he leased additional property and access to the waterfront...