Editing Peninsula Township, Michigan (section)

== History ==
{{See also|History of Northern Michigan}}The settlement at Old Mission was the first community founded by Europeans in the [[Grand Traverse Bay]] region, as a duty of the federal government under the [[Treaty of Washington (1836)]]. It was founded in May 1839 by Rev. Peter Dougherty and Rev. John Fleming.<ref name="TTRmigenweb">{{cite book |title=The Traverse Region, Historical and Descriptive with Illustrations of Scenery and Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers |publisher=H. R. Page & Co. |year=1884 |location=Chicago |chapter=Chapter I |access-date=October 21, 2022 |chapter-url=http://www.migenweb.org/grandtraverse/history1.html |via=MIGenWeb – Michigan Genealogy on the Web (part of the US GenWeb Project)}}</ref> They had spent the winter on [[Mackinac Island]], and founded a [[Presbyterian]] mission at the small Old Mission Harbor, which of course did not yet have that name. The location is a convenient and strategic location along canoe routes between native settlements in the Grand Traverse Bay region. At the time of their arrival there were a few [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] residents of what appeared to be a nearly abandoned village at the harbor. These natives made smoke signals over their watch fire to summon a substantial number of men of the tribe to canoe across the bay to join the visitors for a multi-day parlay. The mission had peaceful relations with native residents in the surrounding area.<ref name="TTRmigenweb" /> The settlement was originally known as '''Grand Traverse'''.

In June 1839 [[Henry Schoolcraft]] arrived at the mission in a small vessel and helped found a school there. By 1841 a seasonal village that was important for sheltering tribal members during trading expeditions, hunts, fishing endeavors, and gathering nearby wild rice had grown to a permanent village, with 5 log buildings as well as several wigwams at the settlement. By 1850 the settlement had grown to a considerable size, and the schooner Arrow was making weekly trips to the mission from [[Mackinaw City, Michigan|Mackinaw City]].<ref name="TTRmigenweb" />

In 1851, a post office was established in Grand Traverse, with W.R. Stone as first postmaster. This was the only official post office in the Grand Traverse Bay region, indeed the only one between Mackinaw City and [[Croton Township, Michigan|Croton]]. In 1852, Rev. Dougherty decided to move his mission across the west bay along the [[Leelanau County, Michigan|Leelanau Peninsula]] to an existing Native American village at the site of modern [[Omena, Michigan|Omena]], thus establishing a "New Mission." The previous community was nicknamed as the "Old Mission" in the early 1850s. By the time of the civil war, the Presbyterian organization which funded Dougherty had financial difficulty, and missionary activities were discontinued. Dougherty sold his land there in 1868.<ref name="TTRmigenweb" />

In 1852, the [[United States Postal Service|U.S. Postal Service]], in consultation with Albert Tracy Lay, a founding father of [[Traverse City, Michigan|Traverse City]], decided to rename the post office at Grand Traverse to "'''Old Mission'''" and named the post office at the [[Boardman River]] from "Grand Traverse City" to "Traverse City", as the former was too long a name per post office guidelines.<ref name="TTRmigenweb" /><ref>Wait, Steven Edwin and Anderson, William S. [http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=micounty;cc=micounty;q1=omena;rgn=full%20text;idno=ARX7201.0001.001;didno=ARX7201.0001.001;view=image;seq=00000020 ''Old settlers: a historical and chronological record, together with personal experiences and reminiscences of members of the Old settlers of the Grand Traverse region'']. Traverse City, Michigan: [Ebner brothers], 1918. pp. 13-18.</ref>

In 1853, Peninsula Township was organized as one of [[Grand Traverse County, Michigan|Grand Traverse County's]] first two [[Civil township|townships]], the other being [[Garfield Township, Grand Traverse County, Michigan|Traverse Township]] (taking up all of mainland Grand Traverse County, excluding the Old Mission Peninsula).<ref>{{Cite web |title=History in Grand Traverse County, Michigan |url=http://genealogytrails.com/mich/grandtraverse/history_county8.html |access-date=2023-01-06 |website=genealogytrails.com}}</ref>

Beginning in the early 1940s, the [[Michigan State Highway Department]] (now MDOT) constructed Center Road to allow for easier access up the peninsula, with motorists previously having to remain on narrow and winding shoreline roads.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Boursaw |first=Jane Louise |date=2018-12-03 |title=Old Mission History: Building Center Road, 1940s - Photos |url=https://www.oldmission.net/2018/12/old-mission-history-center-road-1940s/ |access-date=2023-01-06 |language=en-US}}</ref> Center Road is today the northernmost leg of [[List of state trunkline highways in Michigan|state trunkline highway]] [[M-37 (Michigan highway)|M-37]].