[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 95 (Wednesday, June 30, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1447]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          CELEBRATING THE RICH HISTORY OF NORTHPORT, MICHIGAN

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BART STUPAK

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 30, 1999

  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call your attention to the 
small community of Northport, a unique and rustic village on the 
beautiful Leelanau Peninsula in northwestern Lower Michigan. This 
richly diverse community, which draws its heritage from Native 
Americans and many other cultures, is currently celebrating its 150th 
birthday with a schedule of festivities that will last more than a 
month.
  The celebration began on June 11 with a re-enactment of the event 
that would lead to the creation of the village, the 1849 landing of 
Rev. George and Arvilla Smith, accompanied by Chief Peter Wakazoo and 
more than 40 families, most of them Native American.
  As local lore relates, the town experienced a population boom in the 
mid-1800s after Deacon Joseph Dame wrote to the New York Tribune, 
extolling the benefits of the area. By 1859, according to the 
Sesquicentennial brochure, ``Northport was the largest community in 
northwest Michigan, with 400 residents, two wharfs, five general 
stores, three hotels, several saloons, a sawmill and the first 
organized school district in Leelanau County.''
  As part of the festivities, residents and visitors can take a walking 
tour of the community, viewing the homes of early settlers whose lives 
were intertwined with Northport's 15 decades of history. Typical of 
such homes is that of the Eli Bordeaux family, which was on its way to 
Frankfort, Mich., by boat in 1867 when a storm forced them to take 
shelter in the Northport Harbor. As the guide books relate, family 
members liked what they saw and decided to stay. Eli, a farmer, built 
the home, which remains today.
  This story and this home, Mr. Speaker, are just a small part of the 
rich heritage of the community represented in this walking tour. Many 
other events, including an original drama, a powwow presented by the 
Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, and an ongoing 
exhibit of community artifacts in a rehabilitated civic building are 
just part of the many weeks' activities.
  When communities like Northport hold such celebrations, they 
certainly have in mind a goal of promoting the event to attract 
visitors, many of them perhaps visiting for the first time. Northport's 
events, however, are a true celebration for the residents themselves of 
a rich and unique heritage on a peninsula whose name means ``delight of 
life.'' The name reflects not only the picturesque community and the 
surrounding area, but also the wonderfully moderated temperatures 
caused by the surrounding water. In fact, despite its location more 
than halfway to the North Pole, both tourism and fruit production are 
vital parts of the area's economy.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask you and my House colleagues to join me in 
congratulating this special community in my district, the 1st 
Congressional District of Michigan, and in wishing its residents joy in 
their celebration and a future that continues rich in those intangibles 
that have created its wonderful quality of life.

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