County note shelf
Emmet County Porch Notes
Stories, practical details, outdoor places, tax quirks, and local history connected to Emmet County. This shelf has 4 practical notes and 13 local stories.
17 notes
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- OutdoorsNub's Nob and The HighlandsPleasantview Township is Emmet County's ski-and-golf pocket, with Nub's Nob and The Highlands north of Harbor Springs.
- History and cultureHow Northern Michigan Made Ernest HemingwayErnest Hemingway spent his boyhood summers at the family's Windemere cottage on Walloon Lake, and northern Michigan shaped his early fiction.
- History and cultureHarbor SpringsHarbor Springs is Emmet County's premium north-shore resort town, with a deep harbor, old summer colonies, and the Tunnel of Trees.
- Money and taxesNo city income tax in Emmet CountyPetoskey and Harbor Springs do not levy a local city income tax.
- History and culturePetoskeyPetoskey is Emmet County's year-round resort hub, with the Gaslight District, Bay View, the Bear River, and Little Traverse Bay services.
- History and cultureA Fort Where History Is Literally Being Dug Up, Summer After SummerA reconstructed 1715 French fort under the Mackinac Bridge, sitting atop one of North America's longest-running archaeological digs — active every summer since 1959.
- History and cultureOld Mackinac Point: The Castle the Bridge Made ObsoleteA castle-like lighthouse at the Straits of Mackinac that guided ships from 1892 until the Mackinac Bridge made it obsolete in 1957 — now a museum.
- OutdoorsThat Pretty Beach Rock Is a 350-Million-Year-Old CoralMichigan's state stone is a fossil — a 350-million-year-old coral reef you can pick up on a Lake Michigan beach, as long as you take less than 25 pounds.
- History and cultureMackinaw City, the Straits, and WildernessWawatam, Carp Lake, and Bliss townships anchor Emmet County's Straits end, from Mackinaw City and the bridge to Wilderness State Park.
- OutdoorsThe Tunnel of Trees: Good Hart and Cross VillageFriendship, Readmond, and Cross Village townships follow the Tunnel of Trees along Emmet County's quiet Lake Michigan bluff country.
- History and cultureHas wind ever blown a car off the Mackinac Bridge?No. The Mackinac Bridge Authority says two vehicles have gone over the railing since 1957, but neither case was a vehicle being blown off by wind.
- OutdoorsLittle Traverse Bay and Petoskey stonesLittle Traverse Bay anchors Petoskey and Harbor Springs, with premium shoreline and classic Petoskey-stone hunting.
- OutdoorsInland Emmet: Alanson, Pellston, and the Inland WaterwayLittlefield, Maple River, McKinley, Center, and Springvale townships are Emmet County's quieter inland side, with Alanson, Pellston, and the Inland Waterway.
- OutdoorsThe Dwarf Lake IrisMichigan's state wildflower is a tiny, vivid blue-violet iris that grows almost nowhere else on Earth — only along the northern shores of Lakes Michigan and Huron.
- Home and propertyWell and septic in Emmet CountyEmmet County township buyers should expect wells and septic systems, with buyer-beware septic checks outside municipal utilities.
- Money and taxesBuying in a township? Watch for special assessments on top of your taxesMichigan township buyers should check for special assessments that can add separate road, sewer, water, lighting, sidewalk, or drain charges.
- Money and taxesIn Michigan, you get two property-tax bills a year — not oneMost Michigan property owners get separate summer and winter tax bills, with local rules deciding what lands on each bill.