Editing Onekama, Michigan (section)

==History==
{{Unreferenced section|date=December 2009}}
The predecessor of the village of Onekama was the settlement of Portage at [[Portage Point]], first established in 1845, at the western end of Portage Lake, at the outlet of Portage Creek. In 1871, when landowners around the land-locked lake became exasperated with the practices of the Portage Sawmill, they took the solution into their own hands and dug a channel through the narrow isthmus, opening a waterway that lowered the lake by {{convert|12|to|14|ft}} and brought it to the same level as [[Lake Michigan]]. When this action dried out Portage Creek on May 14, 1871, the settlement, which had only the week before been designated as "Onekama" with a post office under that name, moved to the previously submerged land at the northeastern shore of the lake near an earlier settlement called "Brookfield".

In 1880, the first public buildings were built in the new village. These included the Pierce gristmill and the Gibert brothers' sawmill. In 1882, the first school was built next to the present-day [[Congregational church]]. In 1883, a large summer hotel, the Glen House, was built near the Glen, with its three [[mineral spring]]s that were believed to have medicinal value.

The village was incorporated in 1891 and included the earlier settlement known as Brookfield, creating a long narrow village about {{convert|1.5|mi|1}} long, with the business section on the flat, former lake bottom and residences on the higher land.

In 1889, a branch of the [[Manistee and North-Eastern Railroad]] was extended to the village.

On April 27, 2024, a massive hail storm passed directly through the town causing severe damage to homes, businesses, vehicles and landscape. Most of the buildings within the town were severely damaged, having sustained broken windows, busted vinyl siding, dented steel roofs and siding, and roofs being damaged beyond repair. Much of the damage can still be seen today on many buildings. The hail ranged in size from pebbles, to some larger than golf balls.<ref> https://www.manisteenews.com/news/article/onekama-hit-hail-storms-rolled-lake-michigan-19428320.php </ref>