In General
Getting Here
Map
Sights
USGS Maps


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In General


Location / Name:
Suttons Bay MI, Leelanau County

What's Here:
Suttons Bay Depot
Eatin and Shopping

Data:
GPS Coordinates: as needed
Phone A/C: 231
ZIP: 49682

Access by train/transit:
None

Geography:
Flat in town

The Scoop:

Suttons Bay is almost at the north end of the former line for the Pere Marquette/Chesapeake & Ohio that went all the way "up to" Northport as it's final destination.

For the railfan, Suttons Bay, like many other towns, is a single attraction town.

To make your visit here more "fun", Suttons Bay is full of eateries and cool little shops to spend your money in - you can find all sorts of cute little things to buy!

About 20 miles to the north is the Leelanau State Park, and it has one of the preserved Michigan light houses, the Grand Traverse Lighthouse.

This page is a breakout page from my Traverse City guide, so I retained the sight numbering to agree with the Traverse City map.

Many of my guides came about because I had a reason to visit here for some reason or another.  For the Traverse City area, which includes Suttons Bay, Grayling, Cadillac, and Kalkaska, it is because my aunt and uncle had a summer home in Traverse City.  And because of them, I knew about the Sutton Bay depot, because they had some friends who lived right across the street from the depot - how about that for chance!
  They are the yellow dot on the map.

I see Moomers no longer has an ice cream store in town - that's too bad, as they have some of the best ice cream around! :-(

Tidbits:

Via Google: Who is Suttons Bay named after? Harry C. Sutton. The community is named for one of the first settlers of European descent, Harry C. Sutton, who arrived in 1854. He arrived with a crew of woodsmen to supply fuel for passing wood steamboats.

Acknowledgements:
Google and Google Maps
Wikipedia

Websites and other additional information sources of interest for the area:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suttons_Bay_station
https://michiganrailroads.com/stations-locations/109-leelanau-county-45/1211-suttons-bay-mi
https://leelanauhistory.pastperfectonline.com/Photo/C3CEE1C1-3CC6-4C4A-8B53-414804455854


Getting Here


On the eastern side of the state, such as Detroit or Ann Arbor, you can come up I-75, and jump off at Grayling, heading west on 72 into TC via Kalkaska.  Grayling is roughly 50 miles from TC.  Out of Ann Arbor, you should head north US23 till it joins up with I75 in Flint.

On the western side of the state, from Grand Rapids for instance, head north on US131 till you're just south of Cadillac, then head north (NW) on 115 (but make sure you stop in Cadillac for the depot).  Hop on 37 north at Mesmick, and your only 25 miles from TC.

From the center of the state, as in Lansing, head north on US127.  When you hit Clare / Grant Township, you have a decision to make, for you can stay on 127 till it joins up with I-75, and then do the Grayling and route 72 thing.  Or, you can US10 west a shorts ways till you cross 115, and take that up to TC via Cadillac.

Obviously, coming from the U.P, there is really only one choice of coming down I-75 and again, getting off at Grayling for route 72.

Once you have hit Traverse City, just follow the M22 up about 15 miles to Suttons Bay.


Map


 


Click here for the map in PDF format


Sights


  The Sutton's Bay Depot

GPS Coordinates: 44.97382, -85.65098
101 S. Cedar St.

From Wikipedia: The main track through Suttons Bay was laid down in 1903 by the Traverse City, Leelanau, and Manistique Railroad, to access a Northport-Manistique car ferry. A siding was built a few years later. However, the railway was immediately unsuccessful and the ferry was discontinued by 1908. In 1919, a successor company, the Leelanau Transit Company was organized to take over ownership of the tracks. They leased the line to the Manistee and North-Eastern Railroad and built this depot between the main line and siding in Suttons Bay as a passenger and freight station. In the 1960s, the tracks north of Suttons Bay were abandoned. The track section between Suttons Bay and Traverse City were used by the Leelanau Scenic Railroad between 1989 and 1995. In 1996, the track was torn up after an accident, and a rail trail put in its place. The depot is used as a law office.

 

 



Standing in the street to the following picture, if you turn about 90 degrees to your left, you will get the first view below in the floobydust section of Main St.



The following picture came off of an O-Gauge modelers forum for the Manistee & Northeastern RR boxcar, but since it was staged in front of the Suttons Bay depot, I grabbed it for my Michigan stations page




Floobydust

  Main street in Suttons Bay with an approaching storm at sunset.

  One of the more interesting places to shop in Suttons Bay.

  You pass this on the way up to Suttons Bay.

I'm always amazed with the size of the trucks Michigan allows on it's highways.....

 

The Leenanau State Park is about 19 miles north on the very tip of the peninsula.
More info: http://www.michigan.org/lighthouses#?c=44.4299:-85.1166:7&tid=54&page=0&pagesize=20&pagetitle=Lighthouses

Wikipedia lists around 129 lighthouses that are still standing - active and inactive, the first one built in 1825 is still with us:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_lighthouses_in_Michigan



 


Historical USGS Maps


Courtesy of the University of Texas Library, click here for their index page.





Ref: 2009-0723, 2009-0724, 2010-0906, 2010-0909, 2007-0919
NEW 6-15-2013, JUN28/2017, AUG28/29/2023
Last Modified 29-Aug-2023