Petoskey, Michigan

Petoskey, Michigan
—  City  —
Location in the state of Michigan
Coordinates:
Country United States
State Michigan
County Emmet
Government
 • Mayor Theodore Pall, M.D.
Area
 • Total 5.2 sq mi (13.5 km2)
 • Land 5.0 sq mi (13.0 km2)
 • Water 0.2 sq mi (0.5 km2)
Elevation 666 ft (202 m)
Population (2000)
 • Total 6,080
 • Density 1,211.1/sq mi (467.6/km2)
Time zone EST (UTC-5)
 • Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code 49770
Area code(s) 231
FIPS code 26-63820[1]
GNIS feature ID 0634731[2]
Website http://www.petoskey.us/

Petoskey is a city and coastal resort community in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 6,080. It is the county seat of Emmet County.[3]

Petoskey and the surrounding area are notable for being the setting of several of the Nick Adams stories by Ernest Hemingway, who spent his childhood summers on nearby Walloon Lake, as well as being the place where for Calliope, the protagonist of Jeffrey Eugenides' Middlesex, events take a severe and lasting turn. Petoskey was also the location where 50,000 passenger pigeon birds were killed each day in the late 19th century, prior to their complete extinction in the early 20th century.

Petoskey is also famous for a high concentration of Petoskey stones, the state stone of Michigan. Petoskey is the birthplace of information theorist Claude Shannon and Civil War historian Bruce Catton and is the boyhood home of singer/songwriter Sufjan Stevens.

The name "Petoskey" is said to mean "where the light shines through the clouds" in the language of the Odawa Indians (Little Traverse Bay Band), who are the original inhabitants. The Petoskey stone and the city were named after Chief Ignatius Petosega (1787–1885), who founded the community. Petosega's father was a French Canadian fur trader and his mother was an Odawa (Ottawa) Indian.[4]

This city was the northern terminus of the Chicago and West Michigan Railway.

Contents

Geography

Part of Northern Michigan, Petoskey is on the southeast shore of the Little Traverse Bay of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Bear River. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.2 square miles (13 km2), of which, 5.0 square miles (13 km2) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.52 km2) of it (4.02%) is water. The Petoskey area also is rather hilly and rocky.

Demographics

At the 2010 Census Petoskey had a population of 5,670. The racial and ethnic makee-up of the population was 90.8% non-Hispanic white, 0.7% black or African American, 4.7% Native American, 0.4% Asian, 0.5% From some other race, 2.1% of two or more races and 1.89% Hispanic or Latino of any race.[5]

As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 6,080 people, 2,700 households, and 1,447 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,210.9 per square mile (467.6/km²). There were 3,342 housing units at an average density of 665.6 per square mile (257.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 94.18% White, 0.33% African American, 3.17% Native American, 0.81% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.20% from other races, and 1.30% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.17% of the population.

There were 2,700 households out of which 27.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.8% were married couples living together, 11.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.4% were non-families. 39.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.14 and the average family size was 2.89.

In the city the population was spread out with 23.0% under the age of 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 28.5% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 17.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 85.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $33,657, and the median income for a family was $48,168. Males had a median income of $35,875 versus $25,114 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,259. About 6.6% of families and 12.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.6% of those under age 18 and 8.4% of those age 65 or over.

Transportation

Airports

Rail

Marina

Major highways

US-31 is a major highway running through the heart of the city. It continues southerly toward Charlevoix, Traverse City and Muskegon and northerly to a terminus near Mackinaw City.
US-131 has its northern terminus in the city and continues southerly toward Cadillac and Grand Rapids.
M-119, accessible off US 31 east of the city and Bay View, continues around the north side of Little Traverse Bay to Harbor Springs and then to Cross Village.
C-58 begins at C-81 just east of the city and continues to Wolverine.
C-81 is a north-south route passing just to the east of the city.

Colleges

Libraries

Media

Newspaper
Magazines
Local AM radio
Local FM radio

Camping

Petoskey State Park is located on the Little Traverse Bay between Petoskey & Harbor Springs

Camp Pet-O-Se-Ga is located east of Petoskey on Pickerel Lake

Wilderness State Park is located north of Petoskey in Cross Village

References

  1. ^ a b "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
  2. ^ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. http://geonames.usgs.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
  3. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. Retrieved 2011-06-07. 
  4. ^ Vogel, Virgil J. (1986). Indian Names in Michigan, pp. 45-46. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0472063650.
  5. ^ 2010 general profile of housing and population characteristics for Petoskey from the US Census
  6. ^ Pellston Regional Airport
  7. ^ "Certified Michigan Clean Marinas". Michigan Sea Grant. http://www.miseagrant.umich.edu/cmp/designated/index.html. 

Further reading

Cappel, Constance, Hemingway in Michigan, 1999, Little Traverse Historical Society: Petoskey, MI. Cappel, Constance, ed., 2006 Odawa Language and Legends, Xlibris:Philadelphia, PA.

Cappel, Constance, 2007,The Smallpox Genocide of the Odawa Tribe at L'Arbre Croche, 1763: A History of a Native American People, Ediwin Mellen Press: Lewiston, NY.

External links