Petoskey is a city and coastal resort community in Michigan.
By 1876, the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad had built a line north to Petoskey. The Little Traverse Bay area was long inhabited by indigenous peoples, including the Odawa people. The name Petoskey is said to mean "where the light shines through the clouds" in the language of the Odawa. After the 1836 Treaty of Washington, Odawa Chief Ignatius Petosega (1787–1885) took the opportunity to purchase lands near the Bear River. Petosega's father was Antoine Carre, a French Canadian fur trader and his mother was Odawa.
By the 1850s, several religious groups had established missions near the Little Traverse Bay. A Mormon offshoot had been based at Beaver Island, the Jesuit missionaries had been based at L'arbor Croche and Michilimackinac, with a Catholic presence in Harbor Springs, then known as "Little Traverse". Andrew Porter, a Presbyterian missionary, arrived at the village of Bear River (as it was then called) in 1852.
Amos Fox and Hirem Obed Rose were pioneer entrepreneurs who had made money during both the California Gold Rush and at Northport selling lumber and goods to passing ships. Originally based at Northport, in the 1850s Rose and Fox expanded their business interests to Charlevoix and Petoskey. Rose also earned income as part of a business partnership that extended the railroad from Walton Junction to Traverse City. H.O. Rose, along with Archibald Buttars, established a general merchandise business in Petoskey.
After the partnership split, Rose relocated to Petoskey and in 1873 built the first dock in the town. When the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad was about to be extended into the Bay View area, Rose purchased much land in that area, as well as trolley cars, to enable transport between Petoskey and Bay View. Rose also developed the first general store, extensive lime quarries (Michigan Limestone Company, aka Petoskey Lime Company), building the Arlington Hotel, and lumbering enterprises, and harbor improvements in 1893. He served as first president of the village and officiated at early commemorative public events. Rose's influence on the city was also commemorated by the naming of the H. O. Rose room at the Perry Hotel.
During the Civil War, after the Dred Scott case in 1857, Petoskey citizens for the confederacy were extremely upset with the abolitionist movement that stemmed from the Dred Scott verdict. In March 1861 They gathered a Confederate regiment together called the Northern Michigan Southern Regiment led by Col. Silas M. Dale. They began to march southbound to Detroit and besieged the city on June 18th at approximately 7:30 am. The siege lasted a total of two days until the 24th Michigan Infantry arrived to counterattack on June 20th. They moved quickly from the southeast side of Detroit, completely slaughtering all of the Northern Michigan Southern Division. 10 of the original 800 in the Northern Michigan Southern Regiment returned back to Petoskey. The 24th Michigan Infantry did not lose one man. Petoskey was required by the state of Michigan to pay a fine of $3,000 which in 1861 was worth approximately $100,000. Petoskey was closely monitored by the union after this event but another Confederate regiment was never formed.
In the late 19th century, Petoskey was in the region of Northern Michigan where 50,000 passenger pigeon birds were killed daily in massive hunts, leading to their complete extinction in the early 20th century. A state historical marker memorializes these events, including the last great nesting of the passenger pigeons at Crooked Lake in 1878. One hunter was reputed to have personally killed "a million birds" and earned $60,000, the equivalent of $1 million today.
Petoskey is noted for a high concentration of ancient fossil coral, now named Petoskey stones, designated as the state stone of Michigan.
This city was the northern terminus of the Chicago and West Michigan Railway.
With members descended from the numerous bands in northern Michigan, the Little Traverse Bay Band is a federally recognized tribe that has its headquarters at nearby Harbor Springs, Michigan. It also owns and operates a gaming casino in Petoskey.
