Hemingway's Michigan
Tour Sites
Born July 21, 1899, Ernest Hemingway spent at least some time in northern Michigan every year through his marriage in Horton Bay, September 3, 1921. (In 1918 he missed a summer season. He was in World War I in Italy serving in the Red Cross ambulance corps.)
More of his short stories are set in Michigan than in any other place. They feature the Hemingway-like character Nick Adams and are largely based on the people and places he experienced in the Little Traverse Bay region.
For over thirty years The Michigan Hemingway Society has promoted interest in Hemingway's literary and personal connections to northern Michigan. At its annual conference and through statewide partnerships and presentations, the MHS has raised awareness and appreciation of these connections.
For decades, readers of the Nick Adams stories (and of his novel, The Torrents of Spring, which is set in Petoskey) have traveled to northern Michigan to see the sites associated with the stories and with Hemingway himself. Until now, visitors have had to search for these locations on their own; there were no signs or publications to guide them.
To assist people seeking to discover Hemingway's Michigan, the MHS proposed a self guided tour to be supported by permanent markers at significant locations, a print publication, and a website where additional information could be found.
Using MHS founding board member Ken Marek's exhaustive research, sites were chosen, and work on the publication and website began. Generous northern Michigan funders made all of this possible.
The tour was inaugurated in June 2012 to coincide with the International Hemingway Society's conference at Petoskey - Bay View. Many tour locations in Petoskey can easily be walked. Other sites are several miles from Petoskey and are clustered around places he knew well such as Walloon Lake and Horton Bay.
In taking the tour, individuals may gain further historic and contemporary insights into this place that was Hemingway's northern home and the writing it inspired.
MHS Hemingway Site Plaques
1 - Pere Marquette Railroad Station
2 - Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad Station
3 - Perry Hotel
4 - The Annex
5 - McCarthy's Barber Shop
6 - Jesperson's Restaurant
7 - Carnegie_Library_Building
8 - Potter's_Rooming_House
9 - Pinehurst and Shangri-La
10 - Horton Bay General Store
11 - Horton Creek
12 - Kalkaska Country
13 - Brauns_Restaurant
14 - Pigeon River Country
Other Michigan Hemingway Sites
M1 - Walloon Village Historical Marker
M2 - Walloon Lake Public Access & Boat Launch
M3 - Lake Charlevoix Public Access & Boat Launch
M4 - Evelyn Hall in Bay View
M5 - Ernest Hemingway Statue in Petoskey
1 - Pere Marquette Railroad Station
100 Depot St, Petoskey, MI 49770 (Map)
Off Lake Street near the Municipal Marina
Currently the Little Traverse Historical Museum
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2 - Grand Rapids and Indiana (GR&I)
Railroad Station
9 Pennsylvania Plaza, Petoskey, MI 49770 (Map)
Corner of Bay and Lewis Streets
Currently Pennsylvania Plaza Office Complex
In addition to long haul trains that brought people from far away locations, this station, and a seasonal suburban (“dummy”) train station served as a local transportation hub. People would transfer from the long haul train to the dummy trains that ran to Walloon Lake and numerous other locations around Little Traverse Bay. Once at the locations, summer residents used the dummy train for transportation back into and through Petoskey to shop or visit other regional friends. Referring to itself as “The Fishing Line,” the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad Company aggressively marketed northern Michigan in self-published tourist booklets and in newspapers throughout the Midwest.
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3 - Perry Hotel
100 Lewis St, Petoskey, MI 49770 (Map)
Corner of Bay and Lewis Streets
Across the street from the Ernest Hemingway statue in Pennsylvania Park
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4 - The Annex
432 East Lake St, Petoskey, MI 49770 (Map)
Currently City Park Grill
The Grill Café was a sister institution during Hemingway’s Michigan years. The Palm Garden was a covered courtyard between the two buildings and there entertainment and dining were available.
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9 - Pinehurst and Shangri-La
5738 Lake St, Boyne City, MI 49712 (Map)
The first two dwellings on the east side of Lake Street
as it descends to the bay on Lake Charlevoix.
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10 - Horton Bay General Store
5115 Boyne City Road, Boyne City, MI 49712 (Map)
In the village of Horton Bay
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11 - Horton Creek
5441 Boyne City Road, Horton Bay, MI 49712 (Map)
The creek flows under the Charlevoix/Boyne City Road approximately one-half mile west of the village of Horton Bay. As you approach the bridge over the creek, watch for a small sign on the right (north) side of the road marking the Little Traverse Conservancy's Rufus Teesdale Nature Preserve. Turn right into the preserve, pull into the parking area, and follow the footpath to the creek.
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12 - Kalkaska Country
Street Location and (Map)
Comments?
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13 - Brauns Restaurant
Street Location and (Map)
Comments?
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14 - Pigeon River Country
Street Location and (Map)
Comments?
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14 - Pigeon River Country
Street Location and (Map)
Comments?
Pictures
M1-Walloon Village Historical Marker
Melrose Township Park, 3992 M-75, Walloon Village, Michigan 49796 (Map)
At the foot of Walloon Lake (Map)
The marker here is a State of Michigan historical site marker and not one of the Michigan Hemingway Society plaques.
This marker pays homage to the Hemingways' association with Walloon Lake. In 1898 Clarence and Grace Hemingway traveled to the area and were so impressed that they bought a parcel of land with 200 feet of waterfront from the Bacon family. In September 1899 they brought infant son Ernest with them when they returned to make arrangements for the cottage they named Windemere. Beginning in 1900 the family would travel north each summer and come through Walloon village where they would get off the dummy train and catch a steamship to take them to Windemere. They would also do shopping and socializing here.
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M2-Walloon Lake Public Access & Boat Launch
From Horton Bay take the Charlevoix-Boyne City Rd. going southeast for approximately one mile.
Then turn left (due east) on to Sumner Rd. and follow it to the end. (Need Map)
Looking out at the lake, the property on the right hand side of the road was once Longfield Farm.
This site offers a panoramic view of Walloon Lake. In Hemingway's "Wedding Day," it is the spot from which Nick Adams and his new bride Helen begin their honeymoon by rowing across the lake to the cottage where they will be staying-just as Hemingway and Hadley Richardson did after their wedding.
Looking out at the lake, the property on the right hand side of the road was once the Hemingway’s Longfield Farm. In 1905 Grace Hemingway used part of the inheritance she received from her father and purchased a 40-acre farm here. Over the years, with the help of the Washburn and Sumner families, they improved the property by planting fruit trees, vegetables and hay. Ernest regularly worked here in the summers and frequently camped here in a tent. It is also the site of Grace Cottage, a get away structure Grace had built for herself in 1919.
The property that was Longfield Farm is now private and not available for visitors.
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M3-Lake Charlevoix Public Access & Boat Launch
At the south end of Lake Street, Horton Bay (Need Map)
At the foot of Walloon Lake (Map)
This spot affords an open view of the bay, the woods and beach leading to Ten Mile Point, and the expanse of Lake Charlevoix. Hemingway used this bay and its surroundings as a setting in "The End of Something," "Summer People," "On Writing" and "Up in Michigan."
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M4-Evelyn Hall
On the campus of the Bay View Conservatory, Petoskey, Michigan 49770 (Need Map)
In Bay View (Map)
During the winter of 1919-1920, Hemingway found his writing efforts were sometimes interrupted too much by well-meaning friends. To guarantee his privacy, he is reported to have occasionally "escaped" to a small room (equipped with a wood burning stove) in Evelyn Hall, a women's dormitory that was unoccupied during the winter.
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Ernest Hemingway Statue in Petoskey, Michigan
Pennsylvania Park, Petoskey, MI 49770 Michigan 49796 (Need Map)
Need someone to provide a write-up about the statue.
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