Onekama village plans sesquicentennial bash

Onekama will hold its annual Oenkama Days this summer, including fireworks on Aug. 7. The village will celebrate the sesquicentennial of the river channel and its post office, essentially the beginning of the village, from June through October. (Courtesy photo)

SCOTT FRALEY VENTURE STAFF WRITER

The village of Onekama is celebrating the 150th anniversary of the opening of the channel from Portage Lake to Lake Michigan, the creation of Onekama’s first post office and the first Manistee County Fair. Local homesteaders took matters into their own hands when they tired of their conflict with the Porter Lumber Milling Company, whose dam at Portage Creek flooded their farmland. They illegally dug a small trench – by hand – from Lake Michigan to Portage Lake to lower the lake to its original depth. On the night of May 14, 1871 when the trench was completed, the water rushed out taking with it woods and sand. It also created a channel 500 feet wide and 12 feet deep.

“The channel brought great opportunity for the homesteaders and the mill and remains to this day an integral part of of the Onekama community,” according to the Onekama OneFifty website. A week before, the postmaster general appointed a postmaster to an office at the newly named village of Onekama. Hence, 2021 is the sesquicentennial anniversary of these two events. Residents of the two-lake town aim to prove their community is still going strong. To mark the occasion, organizers plan a months-long sesquicentennial celebration that kicks-off June 11 with the Lion’s Community Dinner and Settlers & Shoreliners Celebration. The banquet begins at 5:30 p.m. and will feature a presentation on local history, titled “Settlers and Shorelines.” Other activities planned for “Onekama OneFifty” celebrations include boat races and other

Work on the Portage Lake channel continued in spring 2019; it began in spring 2018. Now, in 2021, Onekama is marking the sesquicentennial of the channel and the first post office in the village. (File photo)

30 MANISTEE NEWS ADVOCATE

The fountain at Onekama’s Village Park has a rich history. It was once one of a pair that was placed in front of the Manistee County Courthouse in 1887. Following a fire it was relocated to the park in 1950. It was refurbished in 2019. (File photo)

recreational water activities, historic tours and programs, arts and cultural events and a gala dinner, culminating in a formal dedication of the Portage Lake channel to Lake Michigan. This summer also marks the return of the Onekama Block Party in July and Onekama Days events tentatively scheduled for the first weekend of August. The village of Onekama is one of northern Michigan’s best kept secrets. With easy access to Lake Michigan and Portage Lake, many know the two-lake town as a premier recreational retreat along Michigan’s renowned third coast. Onekama is the first town travelers come across heading north on scenic M-22 and is a welcome destination for outdoor recreation near the Huron-Manistee National Forest. “I think there are a lot of sides to it that short time visitors don't see, and I think we're trying to celebrate the other facets of Onekama,” said Rosalind Jaffe, Onekama OneFifty Facilitator. “I think a lot of us come to Onekama as tourists or shortterm visitors and you see all the fishing, you see the ice cream shop and all the typical tourist things. Then as you spend time there and learn what else is going on, (with) the history of the area and the people who have been involved, I think it just makes you fall in love with Onekama even deeper.”

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