Charlevoix, Michigan

We hit Charlevoix, Michigan mid-afternoon, and at first it seemed like it hit us. Traffic was at a dead stop for miles. We finally made it into town only to find out the drawbridge on Rt. 31 was going up so often it was creating a huge traffic jam. But the frustration of the traffic was soon overcome by the beauty of the town and the harbor.

This aerial view really doesn’t do the town justice. We walked through town and my son found a home for sale on the water for about $9 million. Does that give you an idea of the area? It was so pretty we had a picnic to take it all in.

Charlevoix, as pretty as it is, has an interesting past. During Prohibition in the 1920s and early 1930s, Charlevoix reportedly became a popular place for gang members from the Chicago area. Then the city suffered economically from the 1950s to the 1980s as the manufacturing base largely evaporated, the train lines to the city stopped operating, and the larger tourist hotels went out of business leaving many empty buildings. Hard to believe today.

Regular intercity passenger train service, in fact, ended in 1962 after the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) discontinued Traverse City–Charlevoix–Petoskey, Michigan service. Freight rail service in the area ended in 1982 after Chessie System abandoned the track. The state of Michigan purchased the track between Charlevoix and Petoskey from the Chessie System Railroads and contracted Michigan Northern Railway to operate it. This section of track was removed in the 1990s because of a series of washouts and no rail freight customers in Charlevoix. Sections of this rail line now serve as a bicycle trail.

The Charlevoix railroad depot now serves as a museum for the Charlevoix Historical Society.