Old Mission is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in Grand Traverse County in the U.S. state of

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. The community is located within Peninsula Township, and is located about south of the tip of the

Old Mission Peninsula Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England * Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, M ...

, along the shore of the East Arm of

Grand Traverse Bay Grand Traverse Bay ( ) is an arm of Lake Michigan, located along the west coast of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. The bay is separated from the rest of Lake Michigan by the Leelanau Peninsula. The bay is some long, ranges from wide, and up ...

. As an unincorporated community, Old Mission has no legally defined boundaries or population statistics of its own. Old Mission is one of the oldest communities in

Northern Michigan Northern Michigan (also known as Northern Lower Michigan and colloquially within Michigan as "Up North") is a region of the U.S. state of Michigan. The region, which is distinct from the more northerly Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Upper Peninsul ...

, and is the oldest permanent settlement in the Grand Traverse Bay region, founded in 1839 by

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

missionary Peter Dougherty. The Old Mission Peninsula today is known largely for its cherry crop, which is also attributed to Dougherty.

History

In the Treaty of Washington in 1836, the federal government agreed to provide local native tribes, such as the

Ojibwe The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...

and

Odawa The Odawa (also Ottawa or Odaawaa ) are an Indigenous North American people who primarily inhabit land in the Eastern Woodlands region, now in jurisdictions of the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. Their territory long prec ...

, with both a mission and schools for their reservation.

Henry Schoolcraft Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (March 28, 1793 – December 10, 1864) was an American geographer, geologist, and ethnologist, noted for his early studies of Native American cultures, as well as for his 1832 expedition to the source of the Mississippi ...

, the Indian agent representing the government, selected a natural harbor on the eastern shore of the peninsula in Grand Traverse Bay for the planned facilities. In 1838, the

Board of Missions, sent the Reverend Peter Dougherty (1805–1894) to establish the mission, doing so in 1839. The settlement became known as Grand Traverse, and was given a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

in 1850. In 1852, Dougherty relocated the mission to the Leelanau County community of Omena, originally established as New Mission. In 1869, the Grand Traverse post office was renamed to Old Mission. The Dougherty Mission House, also known as the Rushmore House and Inn, was built within the community in 1842. The house and surrounding structures currently serve as a museum. The Old Mission Inn, built is 1887, is also a historic structure within Old Mission. The two are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

and as

Michigan State Historic Sites The following is a List of Michigan State Historic Sites. The register is maintained by the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office, which was established in the late 1960s after the passage of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. ...

. The area received its first post office on April 26, 1850, under the name Old Mission. The post office remains in operation and is located at 4007 Swaney Road. Currently, the post office uses the 49673 ZIP Code, which is used for

post office box A post office box (commonly abbreviated as P.O. box, or also known as a postal box) is a uniquely addressable lockable box located on the premises of a post office. In some regions, particularly in Africa, there is no door-to-door delivery ...

only and has no delivery. The area is served by the Traverse City 49686 ZIP Code.

Geography

Old Mission is located just east of M-37 near the tip of Old Mission Peninsula about north of Traverse City. The community was built along Old Mission Harbor, which is a small safe haven along the East Arm of

. The community sits at an elevation of above sea level. The community is located within an

American Viticultural Area An American Viticultural Area (AVA) is a designated wine grape-growing region in the United States, providing an official appellation for the mutual benefit of winery, wineries and consumers. Winemakers frequently want their consumers to know abo ...

and a center of the

Michigan wine Michigan wine refers to any wine that is made in the state of Michigan in the United States. As of 2020, there were under wine-grape cultivation and over 200 commercial wineries in Michigan, producing of wine. According to another count there ...

industry, including the Old Mission Peninsula AVA.

Mission Point Light Mission Point Light is a lighthouse located in the U.S. state of Michigan at the end of Old Mission Point, a peninsula jutting into Grand Traverse Bay north of Traverse City, Michigan, Traverse City. When it was built in 1870, it was an exact co ...

is located slightly north at the northern terminus of M-37. The 45th parallel is slightly north of Old Mission.

Climate

Education

The area is served by Traverse City Area Public Schools, with high school students in Old Mission zoned to

Traverse City Central High School Traverse City Central High School (also known as Central High School, TC Central, or simply TCC) is a public education, public high school in Traverse City, Michigan. It is one of two comprehensive high schools in the Traverse City Area Public Sc ...

. There are no public schools located on Old Mission Peninsula.

Images

File:Old Mission post office (Old Mission, MI).jpg, File:Rushmore House and Inn (Michigan).jpg, File:Old Mission Church (Old Mission, MI).jpg, File:Old Mission General Store (Old Mission, MI).jpg, File:Old Mission Congregational Church.jpg, Old Mission Congregational Church

References