Emmet County (pop. 32,694) is along Lake Michigan, just across the Straits of Mackinac from the Upper Peninsula. The only other Emmet County is in Iowa.

The county was named for Robert Emmet (1778-1803), an Irish nationalist who was hanged by the British for treason.

He never visited Michigan.

The county seat of Emmet County is Petoskey (pop. 5,670), located on the south side of Little Traverse Bay.

Ernest Hemingway spent boyhood summers in the area.

The Lake Michigan shore at Petoskey is known as a good place to find “Petoskey stones” – the fossilized coral rock that is Michigan’s state stone.

Polished Petoskey stones

The Archangel Grotto in Petoskey is the only grotto in the U.S. dedicated to St. Michael, St. Raphael, and St. Gabriel.

The statues are nine feet tall.

About six miles south of Petoskey is a historical sign that commemorates the extinction of the passenger pigeon. Millions of the birds were killed at their nesting colony in the area in 1878.

Just east of Petoskey is Bay View, a resort community established in 1875 by the United Methodist Church that became part of the Chautauqua movement. Every summer it has a program of music and lectures.

Two hotels and 440 cottages

Highway M-119 north of Harbor Springs is known as the “Tunnel of Trees.” It goes through the woods and along the shore of Lake Michigan.

No centerline

Wilderness State Park is in the northern part of Emmet County. Animals in the park include black bear, beaver, bobcat, mink, muskrat, and otter.

Waugoshance Point, Wilderness State Park

Fort Michilimackinac, a restored 18th-century trading post, is in Mackinaw City on the southern shore of the Straits of Mackinac.

Part of Colonial Michilimackinac State Park

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