Fishtown, MI

by Marty Richardson

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One of Michigan’s most unique northern destinations is Fishtown, in the heart of Leland, Michigan. Among the few publicly accessible commercial fishing complexes in the Great Lakes, this cluster of weathered, original fishing shanties, ice houses and smokehouses perched on docks overhanging the Leland River is a Michigan Historic Site and on the National Registry of Historic Places.

Generations of area fishermen have made this 170-year-old commercial fishing enclave the center of Leland’s maritime tradition. But in recent years, many fisheries have struggled to remain viable. In 2001, the non-profit Fishtown Preservation Society (FPS) was formed to keep this connection to Lake Michigan’s fishing legacy alive for years to come. In an innovative arrangement, the organization now owns much of the property along the mouth of the Leland River, two commercial fishing tugs, Janice Sue and Joy, and related fishing licenses.

Twelve shanties house commercial fishing operations, quaint shops and eateries in Fishtown; FPS owns 10 of them. Because of their advanced age, the shanties all needed work well before the waters started rising to historic levels in 2020. The high water caused additional damage to the buildings and made remediation more difficult. For example, the Morris Shanty, Fishtown’s oldest shanty dating to the early 1900s, sat in extremely high water for so long that the foundation was no longer salvageable; rescue crews had to use chain saws to cut the shanty away from its soggy and rotting base. The Village Cheese Shanty’s move necessitated emptying the shop of its inventory, so the owner threw a party for the locals, using up his Brie, goat cheese and Swiss stock. Weather delays and permitting process snags abounded, and the COVID pandemic further complicated and lengthened the project.

“There is a bright side,” according to Amanda Holmes, executive director of FPS. “If the work had

been done earlier, the planned raising of the shanties would not have been high enough to clear the unexpectedly higher waters of 2020.”

Local contractors did a yeoman’s job of getting giant cranes down the narrow Leland streets and into the confined areas around Fishtown for the big lifts. Shanties were delicately plucked from the flooded locations, one at a time, and carefully moved away from the river, while new pilings, docks and higher foundations were put in place.

Once the shanties are back in place, preservation work will continue.

“The shanty preservation effort is only one part of the site improvements that we are making — most of them urgent, due to the impact of road runoff, high volumes of water over the Leland Dam and the high Lake Michigan water level of the past two years,” Holmes adds.

Work includes dock replacement, drainage control and retaining wall repair. The comprehensive Campaign for Fishtown’s preservation plan goal totals $5,290,000, including an endowment. With a million dollars still to raise and annual fund gifts welcome, contributions can be made at FISHTOWNMI.ORG.

While FPS could not have anticipated this formidable undertaking back in the early 2000s, Holmes says: “Half of these projects were not on our radar before early 2019 and the advent of historically high water. But we know that the difficult and sometimes hard-to-see work of saving this waterfront will ensure that Fishtown will continue to nurture active businesses and attract vacationers for years to come. This is not only about the importance of preserving the past, but the present, and paving the way for a viable future.” ★