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Petoskey was known as Bear River when the first missionaries arrived in 1855. The town was later renamed at the Ottawa Indian Chief Pe-to-se-ga. Lumber was the main industry during the late 1800’s. Located on Little Traverse Bay, the fresh air and resort atmosphere attracted summer visitors from southern Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. A Presbyterian Indian mission was founded here in Bear Creek Township in 1852 by Reverend Andrew Porter. It was given a post office as Bear River on December 2, 1857, and for him the place was also known as Porter's Village. The first permanent white settler, Hazen Ingalls, came in 1865 and, for the community which developed, the post office was renamed Petoskey on December 5, 1873, with the coming through of the railroad. Incorporated as a village in 1879 and as a city in 1896. Chippewa Chief Petoskey (said to be a corruption of Petosega, meaning the rising sun) had owned much of the land of the city named for him and in which he died. Informational excerpts from Michigan Place Names, by Walter Romig, L.H.D.
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