Omena History

Omena’s own Santa on a snowy Christmas Eve arriving by Fire Engine. “They came to the little white church on the hill from all around the countryside by cutter and two horse sleighs, bundled up against the cold with lap robes tucked around them. Under the big candle-lit tree were presents for every child, Indian and white.” Before electricity, candles provided the sparkle to the Christmas tree. Did they sometimes catch trees on fire? You bet they did! Luckily, the candle-lit tree never caught the Omena Church on fire, but there were many fires from Christmas tree candles during the… Read More »

Santa arrives Christmas Eve in Omena It was, and still is in Omena, a whole community affair, the coming of Santa on Christmas Eve. Even before the church was built in the early 1850’s, Rev. Dougherty, the Presbyterian missionary, always gave the Indian children a good time on Christmas Eve. They always had a huge Christmas tree at the Mission with hand made gifts for everyone. The girls prepared for Santa’s visit by hanging up the stockings they had knitted in the Mission sewing class. Most of the gifts were hand made until the 1880’s and even after. Skis made… Read More »

Alonzo’s Sled. Photo credit Joey Bensley. When it snows it reminds me of Alonzo’s sled.  Alonzo Craker lived in Omena in the  1860’s, played in the abundant snow with his two little brothers.  He built his own sled, a little bobsled that he could steer,  to go sailing down the hills on.  He only used it a few years however when he was taken sick with Scarlet Fever and died at the age of ten. The little sled hung in the attic all that winter.  So grief stricken was this little family, that no one would even think of using… Read More »

Land Ownership in the Omena Area in 1881. You can see on the map that George Craker and his son Frank owned the most land in the area at the time. Courtesy “Atlas of Leelanau County, Michigan, 1881 by E. L. Hayes, and Omena Historical Society. George was a short man, about five feet and six inches tall, yet he is huge in the history of Omena. His grandson claimed he never wore a necktie, even to church, although there he is, standing alongside his wife in an old photo in the OHS archives, wearing a necktie. His sharp temper… Read More »

Teams of horses would roll it over snowy roads to make the roads possible for horses and sleighs to travel on. Tough job for the horses! How were the roads cleared before snowplows? Before the 1800’s there really was not any effort to get the snow off the roads. To get from one place to another people just put on their snowshoes and made the trek on foot. Then in the 1880’s teams of shovelers did the work, working together. They would actually throw snow onto covered bridges so sleigh travel would not be interrupted. Later teams of horses or… Read More »

Harbor Bar in the mid 1950’s after Keith Brown bought it from his stepfather, John Putnam and made some additions. The service bay is visible on the right and the bar on the left. Courtesy Omena Historical Society. Kori Wheeler remembers that on Monday mornings when she was growing up her dad would come out and swim with the kids. He was a perfect diver and taught his children to dive and swim underwater. They laughed at his white legs…. white because he did not have a tan there, he never wore shorts as he worked all the time. For… Read More »

Amos and his Ice Wagon – Courtesy Omena Historical Society. “Please find enclosed one weather-beaten old shoe. The shoe was removed from Bodie (a Ghost Town) during the month of August 1978… My trail of misfortune is so long and depressing it cannot be listed here.” said one person, returning the old shoe. A younger correspondent blames getting grounded by his parents on the ghost town curse. Another child simply writes: “Sorry I took the glass pieces. I thought they were pretty. My fish died the day after.” And then there is this, “So sorry for picking these up. I… Read More »

It still happens at least once a summer, but in the early years of cars, the quiet of the night would often but broken by the screeching of tires, and a loud splash as an old car missed the corner of M-22 in Omena and splashed into Omena Bay. Speeding in Omena is not a new thing. Speeding through town, and the resulting consequences, has happened ever since the early 1900’s. It was against the law then and still is now. But this is Omena. Other crimes happened as well in this peaceful little hamlet. Saturday nights when the migrants… Read More »

The Marbachs – Rob, Will, and Rev Marbach standing on M-22 in front of the parsonage. 1930’s. Courtesy Omena Historical Society. M22 was a busy road in 1928, but unpaved. The road grader went by twice each day, up the hill to Northport in the morning, and back south to Suttons Bay each afternoon smoothing out the ruts. It raised a lot of dust, but that did not bother Bob and Effie Barth, or their cows who crossed the road twice each day to get to pasture and back. And it did not bother Bill and Rob, two little boys… Read More »

The little house Janet lived in for most of her life is across from Omena’s historic Presbyterian Church. Kathy and Mike Bosco now own it and are preserving it from future development. Photo credit: Omena Historical Society archives. “Mr. Bushman” often made the Omena Column of the Leelanau Enterprise in the 1980’s. Who was this Mr. Bushman? We had a homeless man who had come to the village to work at the cherry processing plant during the cherry harvest for a few years. He probably worked nights and usually spent his days sleeping under a bush near the Omena Public… Read More »