OLD MISSION: WHERE TWO CULTURES MET IN PEACE
A Press-Ready Travel Feature
From the Traverse City Convention & Visitors Bureau
Please feel free to use this material in any way that fits your needs. You may run it in part or in its entirety (with or without byline), or use it as a source for stories of your own. If I can be of any additional help, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Mike Norton
Media Relations
Traverse City Convention & Visitors Bureau
mnorton@mytraversecity.com
231-947-1120
101 W. Grandview Parkway
Traverse City, Michigan 49684
PHOTO CREDIT: www.mytraversecity.com
(High-resolution photo available on request.)
CUTLINE: Built in the 1850s to replace a fur trader’s cabin, Old Mission General Store isn’t the oldest structure in historic Old Mission, but it’s probably the liveliest. Visitors to the popular lakeshore community can trade witticisms with owner Jim Richards while waiting for an ice cream cone or sifting through a stack of antique postcards.
By MIKE NORTON
TRAVERSE CITY – In 1839, a wiry Presbyterian minister named Peter Dougherty beached his tiny boat below an Indian village near the mouth of Grand Traverse Bay.
He had come at the request of the local Ottawa elders, who had just signed an agreement to relinquish their ancestral lands. Realizing that they would soon be overrun by settlers from the East, they asked for missionaries and teachers to help them successfully adapt to a different way of life.
Thus began the settlement known as Old Mission, a bright, brief chapter in the often tragic history of America’s Indians. For more than a decade, Dougherty and his small colony of teachers, artisans and farmers – Indians and non-Indians alike --lived and worked side by side in this idyllic spot at the water’s edge. Dougherty immersed himself in the lives and beliefs of his native neighbors, helped represent them in their dealings with the government, and eventually moved the entire settlement to a larger site across the bay where the Indians would be able to buy land of their own.
Although it was no longer a mission, the village of Old Mission refused to die. It became a thriving farming and resort community that remains to this day, tucked into a secluded fold of the narrow Old Mission Peninsula, 18 miles from the mainland and the town of Traverse City, a place seemingly frozen in time. Some of its original structures, including the broad frame mission house built by Dougherty and his Indian neighbors in 1842, are still standing and have the look and feel of museum pieces -- except that they’re still being used.
“This is no ghost town,” says local native Jim Richards, who returned to Old Mission after a successful acting career and now runs the eclectic Old Mission General Store, where visitors can buy anything from ice cream cones to coonskin caps. “We’re still here.”
From Richards’ store, built in the 1850s to replace an earlier cabin erected by a fur trader, visitors can stroll down Mission Road past Dougherty’s mission headquarters and the village schoolhouse (now a private residence) to the trim Old Mission Inn, the New England-style congregational church with its tall white spire, and the broad white beach where the intrepid missionary first stepped ashore.
Old Mission residents have always been proud of their past; in the 1970s they erected a replica of Dougherty’s original log schoolhouse to house interpretive displays that tell the story of the village. In 2005 they raised over $1 million to help purchase the Dougherty House and the 15-acre site of the adjacent mission settlement; once an archeological survey of the area has been completed, they intend to convert it into a historical center.
“This could become kind of like a little Williamsburg,” said Carol Lewis, a volunteer with the Old Mission Peninsula Historical Society. “It’s an important site, not just for Michigan but in the larger context of the whole westward expansion movement.”
In an echo of the long-ago cooperation that existed between Indians and whites at Dougherty’s mission, the historical society is partnering with the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, many of whose members can trace their ancestry to the members of the original settlement.
The final design of the mission center is still uncertain, but will probably include a native interpretive area and a historic orchard – a tribute to Dougherty’s role as the founder of this region’s celebrated fruit-growing industry. (He planted the first of what are now millions of cherry trees.) In the meantime, the village remains a popular day excursion from Traverse City, a place of rare beauty where visitors can experience a nearly forgotten chapter of American history.
NEARBY ATTRACTIONS: Haserot Beach, the site of Peter Dougherty’s 1839 landing, is a township park that’s become extremely popular, especially for families with children, because of its protected location and crystal-clear water.
Three miles to the north is the Old Mission Lighthouse, built in 1870 to warn ships away from the rocky shoals of Old Mission Point. The simple frame structure sits on a low bluff above a wide public beach, where a sign informs visitors that they’re standing on the 45th Parallel, exactly halfway between the equator and the North Pole. The lighthouse is surrounded by acres of public shoreline and parkland, with miles of trails for hiking, cycling and cross-country skiing.
Sandwiches, pizza and other edibles can be purchased at the nearby general store. For those in the mood for a sit-down meal, the are several excellent restaurants within a few miles, including the Old Mission Tavern, The Bowers Harbor Inn, The Bowery, The Boathouse and the Peninsula Grill. The area is also home to several award-winning wineries that are open for tastings; one of them, Chateau Chantal, even offers overnight stays in its sumptuous hilltop rooms.
OTHER HISTORICAL SITES: Old Mission is one of many historic sites in and around Traverse City. The Grand Traverse Commons preserves the site of a handsome 19th-century mental asylum set amid 300 acres of meadows, forests and hiking trails, while the neighborhood along Sixth Street (known as “Silk Stocking Row”) preserves the majestic homes of wealthy lumber barons. The town’s opulent 1891 City Opera House has just undergone an extensive restoration and is once again hosting regular performances, concerts and other events.
WHEN TO COME: Late summer is the most popular season in Traverse City, since everyone waits as long as possible for the deep bay waters to get warm enough for swimming. But it’s not necessary to wait until July to enjoy the scenic and historic treasures of the Old Mission Peninsula. Spring brings cherry blossoms and woodland wildflowers to Old Mission, while the blazing fall colors make the area a photographer’s delight. In winter, a visit to the village can easily be combined with a day of snowshoeing and cross-country skiing on the nearby trails.
For more information about the village of Old Mission and other historic sites in and around Traverse City, call the Traverse City Convention & Visitors Bureau at 1-800-TRAVERSE or visit their Web site at www.visittraversecity.com.
