A Pure Michigan Harbor Town

Motor past the multi-million dollar homes and stunning yachts into the deepest and arguably prettiest harbors on the Great Lakes, and you’ll already have a good picture of why tourists have flocked here for a century and a half — and mostly by boat.

But reach the town’s marinas, and you’ll need your full imagination to picture what once was. On a typical day in, say, 1890, you’d be one of 5,000 people a day arriving on ferries with names like the Adrienne and Silver Spray, and more arriving from large luxury liners of the day from Chicago en route to Mackinac Island. The boats stopped at dock after dock of bayfront resort communities that still exist today — Harbor Point, Wequetonsing and Bay View — and Petoskey too, heading to cottages from the train station, or shuttling around to shop, attend a concert or picnic across the way.

In photos of the day, young newspaper peddlers shout their version of “Read all about it,” women paddle canoes in their Victorian best, and men stroll docks in suits and bowler hats. People even skated on the waterfront, thanks to one ferry line that built an 8,000-square-foot rink over the water as a way to set their boats apart.

Bucolic waterfront

Today, visitors also take roads past state parks with wide beaches and under a famed “Tunnel of Trees.” But on and around the water is still the place to be in Harbor Springs; for bucolic waterfront dining, a summer dip or the short stroll from harbor marinas to one of the Midwest’s most charming downtowns.

Shops with a coastal vibe are decked out with colorful window boxes on the outside, while the insides house glass blowers and impressionist painters, destination dining, even cookies so popular they’ve been featured on Rachel Ray and the Today show.

Most nights, music emanates from the waterfront: Jazz, chamber music, singer-songwriters strolling the streets. And you’ll want to take your own stroll at sunset up a scenic bluff for the area’s best view of the quaint harbor in which you’re docked.

The same glaciers that carved out the sheltered deepwater bay left the town’s signature bluffs, once the shoreline of an ancient lake, says Beth Wemigwase, program coordinator for the Harbor Springs Historical Society. The glaciers also crafted large moraines 750 feet above Lake Michigan where you’ll find the Harbor Springs ski resorts Nubs Nobs and the Highlands at Harbor Springs (formerly Boyne Highlands, whose claim to fame was the nation’s first triple chairlift). When glaciers retreated, they deposited the mineral-rich soils that have made the area the state’s fastest-growing wine region.

Get your bearings — and some context for your visit — by taking a right turn from the waterfront down Main Street and exploring the historical society’s impressive museum. The museum was designed by architect/builder Charles Caskey, best known for his work on Mackinac Island’s Grand Hotel. Across the street in Shay Park, you’ll find the restored Aha, a 50-foot steel yacht once owned by early inventor and resident Ephraim Shay. One building you can’t miss is the Shay Hexagon House, across from Shay Park, which was designed and built by Shay in 1876 and is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

Inside the historical society’s museum, displays walk visitors through the region’s past, from the first permanent residents, the Odawa, to the missionary era, post-Civil War homesteading, logging and tourism. The town’s reinvention to draw wealthy travelers might be called the “first Pure Michigan campaign,” Wemigwase says. The name changed from Little Traverse to Harbor Springs in 1881 to emphasize both the deep harbor and health benefits of clean air and natural springs. The city gave away land to people wanting to start cottage enclaves as a way to populate the area, and most became so exclusive that, according to Pointer Captain Dave Crowley, enclaves like Harbor Point require five sponsors by residents to live there and have rejected plenty of notable celebrities to “keep out the paparazzi.”

You’ll see the enclaves up close with a history lesson layered throughout by taking a ride on Pointer, a restored wooden beauty, now docked at Stafford’s Pier Restaurant. For more than 30 years, Pointer shuttled residents of Harbor Point from town to their cottage homes. Cars are still not allowed on the point, and when not traveling by water, residents often shuttle belongings in by horse and carriage.

Crowley, an avid storyteller, also has fun facts that come in handy when planning the rest of your trip in Harbor Springs. As you pass the city beach, for example, he notes that water here is seven degrees cooler than the bay thanks to the natural springs that shoot in 36-degree water. Artesian springs also feed downtown water fountains. You may also catch a bit of the lifestyle past and present as you pass the Little Traverse Yacht Club and lawn parties with a “Great Gatsby” vibe.