Traverse City

History

Prior to European settlement, what is now Traverse City was part of the territory of the Council of Three Fires, an alliance of three Anishinaabe tribes, the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi. The Odawa, who were particularly prevalent in the area, called the area Kitchiwikwedongsing, a name which was often shortened to Wequetong, meaning "place at the head of the great bay". The area was the northern end of what is today known as the Old Indian Trail, a trail which serviced travel for the Hopewell, and later the Anishinaabe, coming to and from the Cadillac area. Grand Traverse Bay was named by 18th-century French voyageurs who made , or "the long crossing", across the mouth of the bay, from present-day Norwood to Northport. The area was French territory at first, and then part of the Kingdom of Great Britain as the Province of Quebec. The area was ceded to the United States in 1783 following the Treaty of Paris, becoming part of the Northwest Territory. In 1847, Captain Horace Boardman of Naperville, Illinois, purchased the land at the mouth of the Boardman River (then known as the Ottawa River) at the head of the west arm of the bay, which at the time was still inhabited by Native Americans. The captain, his son, and their employees first sailed into the river on June 13, 1847, and later built a dwelling and sawmill near the mouth of the river. In 1851, the Boardmans sold the sawmill to Hannah, Lay & Co (made up of Perry Hannah, Albert Tracy Lay and James Morgan), who improved the mill greatly. The increased investment in the mill attracted additional settlers to the new community. Perry Hannah today is known as the founding father of Traverse City. Traverse City was originally part of Omeena County, which was originally set off in 1840 from Michilimackinac County.…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, Traverse City has a total area of , of which, are land and is water. Most of the city is located within Grand Traverse County, though a small portion of the city extends northwesterly into Leelanau County. This portion, the Morgan Farms neighborhood, was annexed by the city in 1989. Traverse City is located in the northwest of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, and is the core city of the Traverse City metropolitan area, the largest population center in Northern Michigan and the largest statistical area in the state north of the Tri-Cities. The city is located at the head of Grand Traverse Bay, a long, natural harbor separated from the waters of Lake Michigan by the Leelanau Peninsula. The bay is divided into an East Arm and West Arm by the Old Mission Peninsula, a thin strip of rolling hills and farmland known for its cherry crop and viticulture industry. As Traverse City contains shores on both of Grand Traverse Bay's East and West Arms, one cannot access the Old Mission Peninsula without entering Traverse City. The Boardman River bisects Traverse City, flowing from south to north. It snakes through Traverse City's downtown district, effectively forming a peninsula, and dividing it from the Grandview Parkway. The river terminates at Grand Traverse Bay northeast of downtown Traverse City. The river's watershed contributes one-third of the water volume to the bay and is one of Michigan's top-ten fisheries, with more than of its designated as a Blue Ribbon trout fishery. It is also a state-designated "Natural River". As of 2025, only one of the five dams constructed on the Boardman River remains; the last, the Union Street Dam, is, as of 2025, being converted into FishPass, a facility that will allow for native fish to move…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  13,810
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  11,468
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  10,752
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  10,051
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  9,529
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  9,497
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  9,070
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  8,887