In November of 1834, Captain Wessel Whittaker was en route from Buffalo New York to Chicago aboard his schooner Post Boy when he and his crew encountered a fierce fall storm.
The storm forced them aground and destroyed the schooner and the captain and his crew struggled ashore near the village that came to be known as Grand Beach. Heading North to St. Joseph to report the loss of their vessel they came across a harbor which the Captain coined as his "New Buffalo".
Captain Whittaker was preceded here by the Miami, Patawatomi, and Iroquois Indians but it was he who ultimately made New Buffalo into a permanent community.
In 1835 Whittaker returned with family and friends and shortly thereafter the area developed with saw mills and log buildings being erected to serve the growing needs and demands of these new inhabitants. More and more settlers arrived from the South and from New York and in short order the area became a bastion for travelers between Detroit and Chicago.
In the late 1840's the stretch of rail between Niles and New Buffalo was completed by the Michigan Central Railroad Company which made New Buffalo the end of the line for rail travelers between Detroit and Chicago. This greatly accelerated the pace of tourism growth and restaurants, hotels, and saloons soon dotted the landscape.
In the early 1900's the advent of the automobile increased the tourism and forever established the area as a prime tourist destination. In 1938 the State recognized New Buffalo as "The Gateway to Michigan" and in fact the existing rest center and Welcome Center at exit 1 is the busiest in all of Michigan.
|
