Northport, MI

Northport occupies the northern end of Michigan’s Leelanau Peninsula on Grand Traverse Bay, about 29 miles north of Traverse City. The village’s waterfront faces Northport Bay, with orchards and rolling hills behind it and Lake Michigan beyond the peninsula. Its settlement history reaches back to 1849, and Northport served as Leelanau County’s seat from 1863 to 1883. Earlier local history includes Waukazoo, the Ottawa community associated with Chief Peter Waukazoo and the missionary George Smith, whose people moved to the peninsula during the smallpox epidemic of 1848.

Today more than two miles of waterfront support a marina, beach parks, shops, a public school, and year-round homes alongside seasonal residences. The village uses solar power at its wastewater plant and has invested in stormwater work and a rain garden near the bay. The Northport Area Heritage Museum holds photographs, objects, and family records tied to the village and Leelanau Township. M-22 and county roads lead south through orchard country, while the harbor keeps boating and shoreline weather in the foreground. Northport is a working waterfront village where school, marina, farm, and Native history share one small peninsula setting.