Petoskey, Michigan

Petoskey is a city and coastal resort community in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 5,670 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Emmet County.

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. A state historical marker commemorates the events, including the last great nesting in 1878. One hunter was reputed to have personally killed "a million birds" and earned $60,000, the equivalent of 1 million dollars today.

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. Actress Megan Boone, star of the NBC television series The Blacklist that premiered in September 2013, was born in Petoskey.

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.

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

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 5.29 sqmi, of which, 5.09 sqmi is land and 0.20 sqmi is water. The Petoskey area also is rather hilly and rocky.

2010 census
As of the census of 2010, there were 5,670 people, 2,538 households, and 1,319 families residing in the city. The population density was 1113.9 PD/sqmi. There were 3,359 housing units at an average density of 659.9 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the city was 91.7% White, 0.7% African American, 4.7% Native American, 0.4% Asian, 0.5% from other races, and 2.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.9% of the population.

There were 2,538 households of which 24.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.7% were married couples living together, 11.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.5% had a male householder with no wife present, and 48.0% were non-families. 39.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.10 and the average family size was 2.81.

The median age in the city was 39.8 years. 19.4% of residents were under the age of 18; 11.9% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.5% were from 25 to 44; 28.1% were from 45 to 64; and 16.1% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47.3% male and 52.7% female.

2000 census
As of the census 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.

Airports

 * The nearest airports with scheduled passenger service are in Pellston Regional Airport and Traverse City Cherry Capital Airport.

Bus

 * Indian Trails provides daily intercity bus service between St. Ignace and East Lansing, Michigan and between Grand Rapids, Michigan and Petoskey.  Transfer between the two lines is possible in Petoskey.

Rail

 * Freight rail service to Petoskey is limited and provided by the Tuscola and Saginaw Bay Railway (TSBY); however, the tracks are owned by the state of Michigan in order to preserve rail service in northern Michigan. Freight traffic includes plastic pellets delivered to a rail/truck transload facility for Petoskey Plastics. Occasional passenger/special excursion trains to Petoskey occur every now and then. Historically, the Northern Arrow and other rail lines provided passenger traffic to Petoskey and Bay View, Michigan from as far as Chicago and St. Louis, but these were discontinued in the late 20th century.

Marina

 * The City of Petoskey Department of Parks and Recreation operates a 144-slip marina located in Bayfront Park. The marina offers seasonal and transient slips, gasoline, diesel fuel, boat launch, wireless internet, 30/50 AMP power, water, pump-out, restroom/showers, playground and adjacent park grounds. The Gaslight District is connected to Bayfront Park via a pedestrian tunnel. The marina received initial designation as a "Michigan Clean Marina" in May 2007 and was recertified in 2010.

Major highways

 * 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.
 * has its northern terminus in the city and continues southerly toward Cadillac and Grand Rapids.
 * , 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.
 * begins at C-81 just east of the city and continues to Wolverine.
 * is a north-south route passing just to the east of the city.

Colleges

 * North Central Michigan College

Libraries

 * Petoskey District Library

Media

 * Newspaper:
 * Petoskey News-Review


 * Magazines:
 * Traverse, is published monthly with a focus on regional interests.


 * Local AM radio:
 * WLDR (750) - country; simulcast of WLDR-FM Traverse City
 * WJML (1110) - talk
 * WMKT (1270) - news/talk (licensed to Charlevoix, studios in Petoskey)
 * WMBN (1340) - adult standards


 * Local FM radio:
 * WTLI (89.3) - contemporary Christian "Smile FM"
 * WTCK (90.9) - Catholic religious (Charlevoix)
 * WJOG (91.3) - contemporary Christian "Smile FM"
 * WTCM (93.5) - country; simulcast of WTCM-FM Traverse City
 * W237DA (95.3) - translator of WFDX-FM Atlanta (classic hits)
 * WLXT (96.3) - adult contemporary
 * WKLZ (98.9) - classic rock; simulcast of WKLT-FM Kalkaska
 * W259AH (99.7) - translator of WPHN-FM Gaylord (religious)
 * WICV (100.9) - classical (East Jordan); simulcast of WIAA-FM Interlochen
 * WCMW (103.9) - CMU Public Radio (Harbor Springs)
 * WKHQ (105.9) - CHR/top 40 (licensed to Charlevoix, studios in Petoskey)
 * WCZW (107.9) - oldies (Charlevoix); simulcast of WCCW-FM Traverse City

Camping
Petoskey State Park is located on 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

Climate
This climatic region has large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Big Rapids has a humid continental climate, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps.