Old Mission, Michigan

The Old Mission Inn, previously known as Hedden Hall or the Porter Hotel, is an inn located at 18599 Old Mission Road near Traverse City, Michigan. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1980 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

The Dougherty Mission House is a house located at 18459 Mission Road in Peninsula Township, Michigan. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1956 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011. The house was certainly one of the first frame buildings constructed in Grand Traverse County, and is thought to be the first post and beam house constructed in Michigan's lower peninsula north of Grand Rapids.

Mission Point Light is a lighthouse located in Michigan at the end of Old Mission Point, a peninsula jutting into Grand Traverse Bay 17 miles (27 km) north of Traverse City. It was built in 1870 as an exact copy of the Mama Juda Light (now destroyed), which was built on the Detroit River in 1866. The foundation is natural and emplaced. The wooden structure is painted white with black trim. The square tower is attached to a dwelling. A fixed white Fifth Order Fresnel lens was installed. The building was only one and a half stories tall. However, its placement on a sand bank 14 feet above the lake's surface created a lens focal plane of 47 feet (14 m). It was visible from 13 miles (21 km) at sea. It has been an ongoing struggle to maintain the dune and protect it and the lighthouse from erosion. The light served to warn mariners about the shoals off the point for 63 years. It was a working lighthouse from 1870 to 1933, when it was decommissioned. However, new techniques in offshore construction and the automation of lighthouse illumination made it possible to build a navigation aid on the shoal itself. In 1938, work was completed for the new stationary buoy light in 19 feet (5.8 m) of water, about 2 miles (3.2 km) northwest of Mission Point. The light runs on batteries. It is on a 36-foot (11 m) tall tower, and its focal plane of 52 feet (16 m) makes it visible for 13 miles (21 km). It has a 30-second dwell time between flashes, in order to conserve power. It is still maintained by the Coast Guard today and only shines North. Famously, the lighthouse stands a few hundred yards south of the 45th parallel north, halfway between the North Pole and the Equator. It was deactivated in 1933 and purchased by the State of Michigan. There are a pair of signs that denote its location on the parallel, one of 29 places in the U.S. with such signs.

Chateau Chantal is a winery located on the Old Mission Peninsula, only a few miles north of Traverse City, in Grand Traverse County, Michigan, United States. The chateau sits atop one of the highest points on the Old Mission Peninsula and has views of both East and West arms of Grand Traverse Bay. The winery is a European style chateau on a 64-acre (26 ha) estate. Chantal is in an official American Viticultural Area, one of five in Michigan, a state that specializes in vinifera, hybrid and native grape varieties. The Chateau has a tasting room, an eleven-room bed and breakfast, and a hospitality room where cooking classes and Jazz at Sunset are hosted.

The Grand Traverse Bay Underwater Preserve is a preservation area that encompasses all of Grand Traverse Bay, a bay of Lake Michigan, in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is 295 square miles (760 km2) in size and is located off Traverse City, Michigan.

The Bowers Harbor Inn is a restaurant located at 13512 Peninsula Drive in Peninsula Township, Michigan. It was constructed in 1928 as a private house, the Stickney Summer House, and renovated into the restaurant in the late 1950s; it now houses the Mission Table and Jolly Pumpkin Restaurants. The site overlooks the waters of Bowers Harbor, an inlet of Grand Traverse Bay. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.

The Old Mission Peninsula AVA is an American Viticultural Area located in Grand Traverse County, Michigan known for well-regarded Michigan wine. The Old Mission Peninsula extends northward from Traverse City into the Grand Traverse Bay of Lake Michigan, ending at Old Mission Point. The peninsula is 19 miles (31 km) long by 3 miles (5 km) wide at its widest point. The climate on the peninsula is moderated by the surrounding waters, helping to prevent frost during the growing season. Grape varietals suitable to cool climates, such as Riesling, Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer, Pinot gris, Pinot noir, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot do best in the Old Mission Peninsula AVA.The peninsula has extensive cherry orchards and vineyards. There are ten wineries offering tasting rooms, each located within five miles of each other. Of Traverse City's two wine-growing peninsulas, Old Mission is smaller and more easily encompassed in a single day: just a little under 20 miles from end to end, and in places as little as three miles wide. The hardiness zones are 5b and 6a.

The Island House, sometimes referred to as the Edwin Noble House or the Elk Rapids Island House, is a historic structure located at 300 Isle of Pines Drive in the village of Elk Rapids in the U.S. state of Michigan. Built in 1865 as a private residence by Edwin S. Noble (1838–1922), it was listed as a Michigan State Historic Site on April 24, 1979. Since 1949, the Island House has served as a public library within the Elk Rapids District Library.

The Elk River is a short river in the Lake Michigan drainage basin of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is only 1.5 miles (2.4 km) in length and flows from Elk Lake into Grand Traverse Bay of Lake Michigan. It forms a waterway and harbor for the municipality of Elk Rapids. Elk Lake is 192 feet (59 m) deep and is a former arm of Lake Michigan. When the larger lake's level dropped, a belt of sediment separated Elk Lake from Grand Traverse Bay, and a short, whitewater river, Elk River, formed to provide drainage for the smaller lake. The Indians named the river Meguzee, in honor of the Anishinaabe name for the bald eagle. In the early 19th century, Euro-American settlers arrived. In 1858, someone discovered a pair of elk antlers in the rapids; the rapids, river, and lake were renamed after the animal. The rapids are quiet now, as a hydroelectric dam has been built. Boats must portage the dam, using adjacent boat ramps. Below the dam, the river opens out into Grand Traverse Bay and forms the harbor of Elk Rapids.

The Elk River Chain of Lakes Watershed, commonly known as the Chain of Lakes, is a 75-mile-long (121 km) waterway consisting of numerous lakes and connecting rivers in the northwestern Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The watershed empties via the Elk River in Elk Rapids into the East Arm of Grand Traverse Bay, a bay of Lake Michigan. The watershed includes 500 square miles (1,300 km2) in Antrim, Charlevoix, Grand Traverse, and Kalkaska counties. The watershed includes a series of 14 lakes and interconnecting rivers. From the uppermost lake in the chain, Beals Lake in Echo Township, Antrim County, the water flows 55 miles (89 km) and drops 40 feet (12 m) in elevation. It has over 200 miles (320 km) of shoreline and almost 60 square miles (160 km2) of water surface area.

The Hughes House is a house located at 109 Elm Street in Elk Rapids, Michigan. It was built in 1867 as a guest house for travelers going through Elk Rapids via stagecoach or steamboat. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1975 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. It is a well-preserved example of popular vernacular architecture.

The Elk Rapids Township Hall is a former government building located on River Street in Elk Rapids, Michigan. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1973 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. The building was refurbished, and as of 2020, the building served as a rental space and performance venue known as HERTH Hall (for Historic Elk Rapids Township Hall).