Weary travelers have been resting their heads and finding nourishment at inns along Michigan roads and highways since the early 1800s. Some of these historic establishments still welcome guests for an overnight stay, a satisfying meal and a refreshing beverage. The blossoming tourism era of the late 19^th century saw hotels catering to Victorian vacationers and there was another boom in the early 1900s. Guests from the past wouldn’t recognize the amenities that these refurbished historic lodgings offer today---but the hospitality remains Pure Michigan.

Stagecoach Stops

Marshall, which has 850 structures in its National Historic Landmark District, is home to Michigan’s oldest operating Bed & Breakfast, The National House Inn. The stagecoach stop dates to 1835 and continues to welcome guests to its 16 rooms. The Mendon Country Inn was the halfway mark on the five-hour stagecoach journey between Detroit and Chicago. Built in 1843, the B&B now makes travelers comfortable with private baths, television and other modern touches. The Historic White Horse Inn opened as a stagecoach stop in 1850 in Metamora, and is still serving lunch, dinner, brunch and tea as “the oldest restaurant in Michigan.” 

Inn Northern Michigan

As the fur trading and military uses for Mackinac Island came to an end, the island in the Straits of Mackinac between the Upper and Lower Peninsulas became a destination for Victorian visitors who arrived by steamship from Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago and elsewhere. Historic accommodations range from lovely cottages-turned-B&Bs and large lodgings built as inns, including the Island House Hotel, circa 1852; Grand Hotel, which opened in 1887; and the 1904 Hotel Iroquois.

The century-old Bay View Terrace Inn is located in the Victorian era Chautauqua retreat known as the Bay View Association, in Petoskey. While the surrounding private cottages are open only in the summertime, Terrace Inn operates its 37 B&B guest rooms and dining room year round. Nearby, Stafford’s Bay View Inn, with 31 rooms and suites on Little Traverse Bay, has hosted vacationers since 1886. Its sister property, the 79-room Perry Hotel, has catered to guests since 1899 and is the last of the original resort hotels standing in downtown Petoskey.

In Harbor Springs, Petoskey’s neighbor across Little Traverse Bay, guests can stay at the Colonial Inn among the impressive “cottages” of Wequetonsing. The inn was built by a Civil War Colonel in 1894, and now offers 40 rooms and suites, swimming pool and indoor spa tub.

Enjoy some time at the romantic 116 year old Grand Victorian Inn with Queen Inn Victorian architecture in the quaint town of Bellaire. First private residence in Michigan to have electric power.

Old Mission Inn claims the distinction of being Northern Michigan’s oldest continually operating historic hotel. Located on the Old Mission Peninsula north of Traverse City, it was built in 1869 as a 31 room hotel and now has five rooms, two suites, and a five-bedroom cabin.

Inn the Early Twentieth Century

For over a century the southwest area of the state now known as Harbor Country has been a popular Lake Michigan destination. The Inn at Union Pier began as a 39 room summer resort in the 1920s, and now offers 16 guest rooms with private baths, outdoor hot tub, and local berries at breakfast. Sister properties, the 20-room Gordon Beach Inn in Union Pier and 31-room Lakeside Inn in Lakeside, have been restored to evoke the feel of the early 20^th century vacation spots that they were---with the addition of modern amenities.

On Michigan’s Sunrise Side near Lake Huron and Alpena, Churchill Pointe Inn on Hubbard Lake has been a vacation retreat since the 1920s, with nine guest rooms and a popular dining room overlooking the water.

Inn the UP

St. Ignace, at the north end of the Mackinac Bridge connecting the Upper and Lower Peninsulas, was settled in 1671, but its oldest operating accommodations date to 1928 when the Travelers Hotel opened. The renamed Boardwalk Inn accommodates its B&B guests in a dozen rooms and suites, all with private baths.

Chamberlin’s Ole Forest Inn was built in the 1800s as a hotel near the Curtis railroad station during the booming logging era, and relocated to a bluff on Big Manistique Lake in 1924. The 11-room Chamberlin’s is noted for its fine dining room and more casual Porch and Pub menu. Close to the Garden Peninsula and Fayette Historic State Park you can stay in the restored, 14-room Nahma Inn, built in 1909 as a hotel for employees of the Bay De Noc Lumber Company. Be sure to enjoy a meal and beverage in the dining room or Arrow Lounge.  

In 1930 the Northland Hotel debuted in Marquette, the largest city in the Upper Peninsula, and welcomed guests including Amelia Earhart, Louis Armstrong, Jimmy Stewart and the Rolling Stones. Beautifully renovated in the 1990s, it reopened as the 62-room Landmark Inn. Enjoy the birds-eye view of Lake Superior from the North Star Lounge.

Museum Inn-sights

While touring Greenfield Village in Dearborn stop at Eagle Tavern for a cup of cider, bowl of chicken corn chowder, or other taste of 19^th century fare. The stagecoach stop was built in 1831 in Clinton, on the Chicago Road, and relocated to Henry Ford’s outdoor museum to preserve an aspect of early American travel.

In 1843 Sylvester Walker assumed ownership of a tavern that had been built in 1836 at Cambridge Junction, a crossroads on the Chicago Road between Detroit and Chicago. Walker Tavern and the barn still stand as a museum about stagecoach travel at Cambridge Junction Historic State Park in Brooklyn, also the home of Michigan International Speedway,