Big Traverse Bay Historic District
History
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Big_Traverse_Bay_Historic_District_MI_D.jpg/220px-Big_Traverse_Bay_Historic_District_MI_D.jpg)
The site on which the Big Traverse Bay Historic District now stands was originally a logging camp owned by the Hebard Lumber Company, dating from the last two decades of the 19th century. A substantial number of Finnish emigres moved into the area, working in the lumber, mining, or fishing industries. By 1920, Big Traverse Bay had developed into a primarily fishing community. in the 1950s, construction of a breakwater and changes to the harbor resulted in the demolition of a number of houses, as well as a footbridge across the river. The community remains an active, and relatively isolated, fishing community.
Description
Big Traverse Bay is a small Finnish fishing community located on a peninsula and adjacent mainland at the mouth of the Traverse River on Lake Superior. The community includes approximately 40 small, single-story, gable-roofed houses with aluminum siding an undeveloped yards. Vintage gasoline pumps, net reels, cedar shake-covered fishing buildings, ice houses and saunas are still in use.