Chronicling a history of Glen Arbor Township
By Rebecca G Carlson
Sun contributor
When reading anything historical, while fascinating, it can be hard to connect to the information as it is not personally relevant or the idea that the historical event happened a long time ago creates a divide. The hurdle for the historian is how to bridge the reader to the past and make the information relevant? The newest release from the Leelanau Press, Glen Arbor Township: A History to 1920 beautifully bridges the past for the contemporary reader.
The award-winning Leelanau Press publishing company is responsible for highlighting and celebrating local history, culture, and beauty through books such as Art of the Sleeping Bear Dunes, Historic Cottages of Glen Lake, Ice Caves of Leelanau, Petoskey Stone Soup, and the latest addition, Glen Arbor Township: A History to 1920. At the helm of this local, non-profit publisher is Barbara Siepker. According to Siepker during our interview, the main goal for choosing authors and topics for publishing is to focus on “preservation and history.” Founding Leelanau Press in 2002, 16 books have been published over 20 years highlighting “Beautiful books that Celebrate Leelanau County”. They have received Historical Society of Michigan awards, Michigan Notable Book, and IPPY award.
Ice Caves of Leelanau was a run-away best seller that has continued to fund following books by this Michigan Corporation non-profit. The award-winning Historic Cottages of Glen Lake was the result of her witnessing “cottage tear downs” in and around Glen Lake with close to a quarter lost to make way for newer, more modern second homes. She questions what is being lost by the tearing down of these classic cottages? Her answer appears in the visually rich Historic Cottages of Glen Lake. After a “serendipitous meeting” at Siepker’s Cottage Book Shop with award-winning architectural photographer Dietrich Floeter, the pair cultivated a piece of artwork featuring fifty historic summer cottages. Dietrich skillfully captured the essence of the cottages on black-and-white film with a view camera. Together, they have created the nostalgic balance that successfully bridges the contemporary reader with the history.
Back to 2025, the Glen Arbor Township: A History to 1920 is a collective achievement by several local historians. Authors Paul Dechow, Siepker, John Tris, Mary Severson Tris, and Andrew White (also editor) spent “roughly” seven years planning, researching, writing, and documenting this important contribution to the growing local canon for all who cherish our up-north heritage. Using “hundreds of photographs, maps, and firsthand accounts,” this multi-voice collaboration demonstrates there is not just one viewpoint or story to be shared. Enhancing the depth of this work are the personal connections of the various authors to the local area. Each author explores their areas of expertise to forge this historical text covering topics such as geography, surveying, development, Indigenous histories, national and local governance, founding families and pioneers, shipping, the lumbering era, the growth of the resort and camping communities, and more.
At the heart of connecting the modern reader to the history of the area is Tris’ section on the “Glen Arbor Survey Township” understanding the motivation of the 19th-century settlers. “Since the government was in the business of selling public lands, one of the responsibilities of a surveyor was to describe and promote the commercial opportunities…” of an area (31). Farming, lumbering, and fishing are the early industries of the Glen Arbor area as well as the greater Leelanau Peninsula. Without these vital, interconnected industries, there can be no development or growth. Tris writes, “Prospective farmers had to…clear the land of timber…[constructing their] homes and farm buildings…selling the excess to lumbers mills…or to…steamships” (34).
White’s section on “Farming and Fishing” uses primary source reports to explain the growth and early success of these industries in the Glen Arbor area. In reading the Alexander Winchell Report from the mid-1860s, he notes the thriving farm crops specific to the area. “…[T]he staple crop of the region, at present, is winter wheat” explaining the mildness of the weather “enables” the success of this crop. Winchell continues listing bountiful crops such as corn, oats, buckwheat, hay, and exclaims “The finest potatoes of the country are produced in this region.” In regards to the area in fruit production, Winchell notes, “As a fruit growing region, it is doubtful whether any other part of the United States will compete with this.” He specifically explains apples “[flourish] luxuriantly in the neighborhood of Glen Arbor…” then notes peaches, plums, pears, grapes, and cranberries as the other profitable fruit crops of the time (240). However, these early years of settlement were full of backbreaking work for the early Glen Arbor pioneer which becomes clear in the section on “Cemeteries”.
The section on “Cemeteries” highlights the dangers of the early Glen Arbor settler in the mid-19th century. The first recorded death in 1867 notes: Isaac Wright, “Wagon Passed Over Him.” Other recorded deaths are more shocking and beg the question, why? “[B]uried in a well” and “smothered in bed.” Intentionally? In wanting to know more, this opens another avenue of inquiry. Siepker explains this book is not meant to be the end of the story. There is more history and stories to come forth and be shared. Since publication, important photographs, a store ledger book, and Justice of Peace Record book have been found and placed safely in museums, so that others can accomplish successful research. The authors hope to “inspire someone to continue the research.” The beauty of any story, fiction or non-fiction, is that the story never truly ends. There will always be another narrative facet to share and more research to complete to reveal another layer of a story.
Siepker noted that Glen Arbor Township fills a gap as there were no history books dedicated as extensively to the development of the area, founding families, and the early Glen Arbor resort and camping history. Following a framework of 1848 through to 1920, this book creates connection to the area through the history and stories of the changing boundaries of the area. While writing this multi-authored work of this depth created challenges, coordinating the efforts of five authors, and the time-consuming indexing of all the historical research and ephemera, the reader is the fortunate recipient of this successful collaboration.
As a final note included on the copyright page of this work, “History is not there for you to like or dislike. It is there for you to learn from. And if it offends you, even better. Because then you are less likely to repeat it. It is not yours to erase. It belongs to all of us” ~Anonymous (iv). There are no truer words…
