OVPA Blog

In 1864 there was a need for a jail in Leelanau County. The people of Northport held a meeting and passed a resolution to build it, paid for in part by the county and the rest “by subscription”. About this time four gangs of cattle rustlers roamed the county stealing oxen, cows, and horses, driving them off and selling them. ‘Sherriff Lee’ had his hands full capturing them. Where did these and other law breakers in our area go once captured? To the Northport jail, built in 1864, and replaced by an even more substantial jail in 1903 (the one… Read More »

Beginnings and Endings. There is a line in the Robert McCloskey children’s book “One Morning In Maine” that says, ” A little bit sad about the place they are leaving and a little bit glad about the place they are going.” I think about the children of Omena leaving in the fall to go back to school, how they must be feeling, and how they have felt every fall through the ages. Laurie Remter recently shared some of her wonderful old photos of the many cousins, uncles, and aunts who shared the cottage called “The Pioneer” since the 1950’s and… Read More »

David and Sally on the front porch of Tamarack in 1992. Courtesy Traverse, the Magazine, January 1992. Driving around Chicago, looking for work in their little Volkswagen loaded with everything they owned, and having no luck, they parked the car on the street for a short time only to come back and find someone had broken into it and stolen everything they owned. They had hit rock bottom. No jobs, and everything they owned was gone. David and Sally Viskochil were college graduates, had served three years in the Peace Corps, and were down on their luck. They decided to… Read More »

This is Nancy Jo’s painting on the barn door done in 1952. Has anyone seen her other work? What becomes of a painter’s studio once the painter leaves it? Once upon a time Horace Wheeler, the owner of Sunset Lodge, had a daughter who loved to paint. Her name was Nancy Jo Wheeler. Horace built her a studio behind the Lodge, actually behind the barn, and she used it for many years. One of the things she painted was a primitive of barnyard animals on the barn door of the barn. I’ve not seen her other work. After she left… Read More »

President Taft came to Michigan in 1910 to preside at the unveiling of Custer’s statue in Monroe, assisted by Custer’s widow Libbie. Courtesy of Don Harrison, Up north Memories The 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn was more famously known as “Custers Last Stand”. Many men were killed in that battle including the officers whose pictures are below. General George A. Custer had ties to Omena’s yellow house, the Anderson House, through his wife Libbie Bacon Custer. Her family bought property here as early as 1852. Libby’s father, Judge Daniel S. Bacon, was a state senator and land speculator. Judge… Read More »

This interesting couple has ties to Omena that go back to the days of Rev Peter Doughtery. Although General George Armstrong Custer’s presence is fleeting at best and somewhat “ghostlike”, his wife, Elizabeth Clift Bacon Custer definitely was a presence here. Her father, the wealthy and influential Judge Daniel Bacon who purchased land in this area in 1852 and in 1858. He purchased the land in Omena where the yellow Anderson house stands as well as where Villa Marquette and the Presbyterian church are. It is believed that it was to Omena that Elizabeth brought Custer to recover from an… Read More »

Just about where this horse and buggy are in the photo, but about 20 feet out in the water, there is a buggy on the bottom. People (not me) have seen it and swear it’s there. No horse bones, thank goodness! How did it get there? Break through the ice taking a short cut across the bay in winter? Horse out of control dragged it out there? Who has seen it? What are your theories? If you’re looking for it, it’s opposite the firehouse just before you get to the rocks on the bottom.

Roch Tabernshaski farming his land. Photo taken by Oscar Shugart In the late 1800’s. Courtesy of Leelanau Historical Society It’s true! Omena once had a resident hermit. His name was Roch Tabernshaski and he lived somewhere between Suttons Bay and Omena in a “tiny house in the ground” near the railroad tracks with his “family”, a cow named Czarina, and bull named Czar, and an occasional calf. Roch wasn’t your usual hermit however. He spoke 7 languages and was an expert in eastern European History. He attended church regularly and had a “perfect baritone voice”. So why was he here? … Read More »

I met him once, in his dark shed of a workshop smelling like the cedar shavings that covered the floor. His shop was close to the water by the marina in Northport, an important location for launching his boats. Friend of a friend, his appearance was not what I expected. He was barefooted, stoop shouldered, wearing varnish-stained old pants, and wild haired. He stuck out his hand in greeting and it felt as rough as sandpaper. My friend has a sort of reverence in his voice when he talks about this man, He describes him as a “tough, vanishing breed… Read More »

Jack Stephenson, Teddy Larraber, and Cl. Clark prepare to launch their motorboat. (Courtesy Omena Historical Society) They just go together. Always have, always will. While most of the early cottagers come to Omena for rest and relaxation, the boys needed challenges and boats provided that. Everyone had rowboats and canoes, but the lucky ones had motorboats. They leaked, and the engines were unreliable, and you had to pull on the starter cord for a half hour or so to get them started. They would get you to where you wanted to go all right, and then break in the rough… Read More »