Leland is built on the site of one of the oldest and largest Ottawa villages on the Leelanau Peninsula. Where the Leland (Carp) River flows into Lake Michigan, there was a natural fish ladder which was a traditional Native American fishing grounds. The settlement was called Mishi-me-go-bing, meaning "the place where canoes run up into the river to land, because they have no harbor" or alternatively Che-ma-go-bing or Chi-mak-a-ping.
White settlers, who began arriving in the 1830s, also took advantage of the location as a fishing settlement. White settlement increased after Antoine Manseau, with his son Antoine Jr., and John Miller, built a dam and sawmill on the river in 1854. Construction of the dam raised the water level 12 feet and what had been three natural lakes in the river all became a single lake now known as Lake Leelanau (and is navigable all the way to the community of Cedar, about 10 miles inland). The settlers built wooden docks, which allowed steamers and schooners to transport new settlers and supplies.
Today, the historical fishing settlement is known as "Fishtown" and two working fisheries remain along with a thriving charter fishing business. The waterfront is a line of quaint shacks which have been converted into tourist shops.
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