TimeShift America, Petoskey Harbor, 1890 Educational Edit

This lesson explores how the land around Petoskey is transformed from a resource rich area inhabited by Native Americans to a bustling tourist city that still honors its roots.

This TimeShift starts in 1890, then moves the viewer through history. On this journey we will explore life in the area as it is transformed by the flow of people seeking to enjoy and profit off the abundant natural resources. Petoskey, Michigan attracted settlers and entrepreneurs who transformed a land once occupied by the Odawa (Ottawa), a Native American nation of hunters, farmers, and traders.

Negotiated treaties opened up the land for purchase, and with the growing population of newcomers, the land and its people would also become transformed. Initially, French fur traders interacted and traded pelts with the First Peoples of the area, and then came religious missionaries preaching Christianity.

Businessman Hiram Rose found wealth in the California Gold Rush. He was on his way to investigate copper mining options in Michigan when he discovered Bear Creek, a small town on Little Traverse Bay. He stayed and grew the small town into the city it is today. One of his first projects was a commercial grade dock. He later founded the Petoskey Limestone Company, which provided for brick and mortar construction as the city expanded. These structures fill the city to this day.

The railroad tracks from Chicago and Grand Rapids end in Petoskey. The Lumberjacks made certain the trains and ships were loaded with lumber. The ladies of Petoskey organized for a World War and gained the right to vote soon thereafter.

Despite the original upheaval of both the indigenous communities and the old growth pines, the forests continue to thrive and many Native American traditions are still practiced there today.