Chapter 3:

Historical Profile

This chapter profiles historical aspects of the environmental and social features of Suttons Bay Township. Environmental history information was collected from the records of the Michigan Natural Features Inventory (MNFI). The social history was gleaned from Our First Families by Laura Lindley.

Between 1816 and 1856, Michigan was systematically surveyed by the federal General Land Office. The township and section lines of the survey established the political boundaries of counties and townships throughout the state. The surveyors took detailed notes on the location, species and diameter of each tree used to mark section lines and corners. They also noted the locations of rivers, lakes, wetlands, the agricultural potential of soils, and the general quality of timber along each section line that was measured out. In addition, they noted natural disturbances, the trails and settlements of Indians, and early European settlements.

Biologists from the MNFI developed a methodology for translating the survey notes into digital maps. The map includes wetland grade codes to generally indicate the current status of each wetland unit when compared to its historical condition. The users of these maps need to note, however, that the inventory has limitations in regards to the accuracy and detail of information depicted.

Map 1 depicts the pre-settlement landscape for Suttons Bay Township as recorded by surveyors notes. The major pre-settlement landscape features are the lowland conifer areas, most of which show evidence of alteration but not degradation. Not shown on the map but recorded by the MNFI were tree species. Survey notes indicate beech, sugar maple, cedar, hemlock, birch, black ash, and white pine in the vicinity of Stony Point. In the north central portion of the township, predominant species were beech, sugar maple, hemlock, cedar, basswood, white pine, elm, birch, maple (undifferentiated), white ash, black oak, red pine, balsam fir and ironwood.

In 1840, the counties of Benzie, Grand Traverse, and Leelanau were one county, known as Grand Traverse. By 1853, the areas of Benzie and Leelanau Counties were designated as a township (Leelanau) of Grand Traverse County. On February 22, 1863, Leelanau County was created by the State Legislature. The new county consisted of the townships of Leelanau, Centerville, and Glen Arbor. The county seat was established in Northport. In 1883, the county seat was moved to Leland where it has remained.

The Suttons Bay area is named after its earliest European settler, Harry C. Sutton who settled here in 1854. The village was first known as Suttonsburg. (It was also known as Pleasant City.) The name Suttons Bay was adopted in reference to the community’s deep, safe harbor.

Historically, Suttons Bay Village was the commercial and institutional center for area residents. Residential development was also concentrated in the Village. Township lands were timbered and then cultivated for field crops and orchards.

The first post office was opened in Suttons Bay on August 27, 1861. The first road linking Suttons Bay and Traverse City was cut through in 1862. That road was State Road and it passed through the Village along the path of what is now St. Mary’s Street.

The first industry in the Suttons Bay area was a grist mill established in 1859 by Antoine Manseau, Jr., three miles north of the village. One of the earliest saw mills in Suttons Bay was built in the early 1870s at the site later occupied by Northern Lumber Company.

The Manistee and Northeastern Railroad came to southern Leelanau County in 1892, and with additional companies and rails over the next several years, transportation of people and products was greatly improved. The Traverse City, Leelanau, and Manistique Railroad began operating between Traverse City and Northport in 1903, with stops at Hatch’s Crossing, Fountain Point, Bingham, Keswick, Suttons Bay, and Omena.

With the exception of the tribal settlement, development within Suttons Bay Township remains concentrated around the Village. However, residential development has increasingly occurred outside the Village. Shoreline areas in the township initially attracted the construction of seasonal homes. These areas have begun to form strips of year round residences. With declines in agriculture and the removal of fields and orchards from production, low-density residential development has begun to occur in the interior of the township.