Portage Point, Michigan
Portage Point is an unincorporated summer resort area of Onekama Township, Manistee County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It includes the site of the first town on Portage Lake at 44°21′43″N 86°15′42″W / 44.36194°N 86.26167°W / 44.36194; -86.26167 It is located on the narrow strip of land between Portage Lake and Lake Michigan developed by the Portage Point Association. A post office operated in summers from August 1917 until September 1921.
Early history and settlement
The area was probably visited by Henri de Tonty in 1679 and other early explorers of the eastern coast of Lake Michigan. The first known non-native Americans to live for any length of time near Portage Point was the crew of the schooner Prince Eugene that wrecked on 15 November 1835 three or four miles (6 km) south of the present-day channel between Portage Lake and Lake Michigan. Not wanting to walk to the nearest town in winter, Grand Rapids or Muskegon, they built a log cabin in the dunes and waited for spring.