Harbor Springs, Resort city in Northwest Michigan, United States
Harbor Springs sits on the northern shore of Little Traverse Bay on Lake Michigan and has the deepest natural harbor in the Great Lakes. The city spreads along this protected bay where sailboats and pleasure vessels can anchor safely.
French Jesuit missionaries originally called the area L'Arbre Croche, and it was home to Michigan's largest Native American population at that time. The city was formally incorporated in 1880 as European settlement expanded into the region.
The Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians maintain their tribal offices here and keep their traditions alive through community projects and educational programs that shape daily life in the region.
The city is accessible via M-119, which connects to US 31 and provides regional transportation links. A small airport handles general aviation if you arrive by private aircraft.
Downtown has a hexagonal house built by locomotive inventor Ephraim Shay, now protected as a national landmark. This unusual structure with its distinctive shape tells the story of 19th-century invention and engineering creativity.
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