The first settlement in what is now Leelanau County occurred in 1849 when Rev. George N. Smith of the Congregational Church arrived from Holland, Michigan and settled near the northern tip of the peninsula with his family to minister to the Indians. The Indians that followed Rev. Smith to the new site platted a village they named Waukazooville, after their chief. In 1852, Joseph Dame settled at the site and platted Northport village, which also took in Waukazooville. Once the village was growing, other faiths made their way to Northport. In 1858, Rev. Lewis Griffith of the Methodist faith arrived, and in 1870, both Congregational and Methodist church buildings were completed in the village. A Lutheran Church was built in 1885, and St. Gertrude's Catholic Church in 1889.

In 1852, Rev. Peter Dougherty (1809-1894) moved across Grand Traverse Bay to establish a "new mission" site, to continue his ministering to the Indians of Chief Ahgosa's tribe. This would later become the village of Omena, and the village's Presbyterian Church, the "Grove Hill New Mission Church," was dedicated in 1858. Sunday services have been held there since. The name "Omena" is said to be an Indian word meaning "Is it so?," a word Rev. Dougherty used speaking among the native people. From 1866 to 1872, Gen. and Mrs. George Armstrong Custer owned land just south of Omena, and in 1936, a parcel of the land became Villa Marquette, a Jesuit training center and retreat.

In 1852, a band of Ottawas from Cross Village in Emmet County established Eagletown. Their spiritual needs were administered to by Rev. Angelus van Paemel, a Catholic priest. He was succeeded by Rev. Ignatious Mrak (1810-1901), who helped build the settlement's first church building in 1858. It was later replaced by a second structure, which later burned, and was replaced by the current church building in 1865. Today, the site is now called Peshawbestown, and the church is named for Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-1680).

The Catholic Church at Peshawbestown is not the only one Rev. Mrak helped establish. In 1869, the same year he became Bishop of the Marquette Diocese, Rev. Mrak dedicated a Catholic Church on the hill north of Leland.
It later burned, and Catholics from that village went to the one in Provemont (Lake Leelanau). 1869 also saw a Congregational Church built in Leland, and in 1871 Immanuel Lutheran Church was built. It was a frame structure that was replaced by a brick church in 1925. A Methodist Church was also established in Leland.

Holy Mass was offered up by Rev. Mrak in the home of Jacob and Margaret Schaub at the new settlement of Le Naro, later Provemont, and now Lake Leelanau. In 1864, a log structure was built by Rev. Mrak, and dedicated by Bishop Baraga. Originally, it was to be named Sts. Peter and Paul, but the promise of prayers answered changed that. Margaret Schaub, taking maple syrup and maple sugar for barter, and some other villagers made a trip by boat to Buffalo, New York to get money from friends and relatives for a statue of the Virgin Mary, a chalice, and church vestments. On the return trip, a storm came up on the Great Lakes, and the passengers prayed that if the people returned safely to their homes, they would name their new church St. Mary's. The storm subsided, and the promise was kept, calling it Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In 1877, a frame church was built and renamed St. Mary's, and in 1887 a Catholic school was opened, followed by another new church in 1895, and in 1924, the current church was built. The current school was built in the 1930's, the old one being razed in 1938.

Another Catholic Church that played a part in a new village is St. Michael's in Suttons Bay. In the Autumn of 1854, Harry C. Sutton built a dock for selling cordwood for Great Lakes boats, and in 1867, he platted what was named Suttonsburg by the Register of Deeds. In 1871, Rev. Andrew Herbstrit, a real estate operator as well as a priest, platted what was named Pleasant City, and in addition to founding St. Michael's Catholic Church, intended to establish a Catholic university in the town; but it did not get off the drawing board. St. Michaels Church did have its own elementary school for several decades, however, and during the 1870's, Suttonsburg and Pleasant City became the village of Suttons Bay. Later, two Lutheran churches, German and Norwegian, were established, and Suttons Bay Congregational Church began in 1898.

In 1870, Polish immigrants established Isadore, the Catholic Church being the center of it. A wooden church was built in 1883 and named Holy Rosary. In 1884 a Catholic school was built, and a brick schoolhouse was built in 1905. In 1922, the wooden church was replaced by the current brick church, and from 1938 to 1961, Holy Rosary had a high school. Sadly, Holy Rosary had a dark chapter in its history. In 1906, Sister Mary Janina was assigned to the church and school, and disappeared the following year. The pastor at the time was Rev. Bionowski (d.1964). By the time the nun's bones were found buried under the church eleven years later, he had been assigned to a church in Manistee. It was suspected that his housekeeper, Stanislawa Lipsczynska, had murdered the nun. She was tried in Leland and found guilty of first degree murder in 1919. Sentenced to life in prison, the housekeeper was paroled in 1927, and passed away in Milwaukee, Wisconsin c.1960, at an advanced age.

Communities in what are now "ghost towns" had churches, and some are worth mentioning. The former town of Port Oneida was started in 1853 by Carson Burfiend, and Thomas Kelderhouse built a dock there in 1862. With the community gaining enough population, a Lutheran Church and cemetery were built at what is now the intersection of Port Oneida Rd. and M-22. Today, only the cemetery remains.

Good Harbor is another former Leelanau County town. Once having a population of about 300, it began in 1863 when H.D. Pheatt built a dock for a wooding business and a sawmill in 1868. St. Paul's Bethlehem Lutheran church was established in 1877, and a wooden structure was built about 1879, but was struck by lightning in 1918, and a brick church was built to replace it less than two years later. It has gone through remodeling and addition three times from 1932 to 1962, and is still used for weekly services.

Gill's Pier was another community established on Lake Michigan near the northern tip of the county. Wilbur Gill built a sawmill and dock in Leelanau Township. Bohemians of the Catholic faith began having services in the home of Julius Kolarik in 1885, with Rev. Mrak offering up the first Mass. In 1890, a frame church was built and was dedicated to St. Wenceslaus. In 1941, a brick church was built, and in 1948 a rectory was built. Both frame and brick churches stood together until the former structure was razed in the Autumn of 1963. Out of all that made up the community of Gill's Pier, only St. Wenceslaus Church remains today, located at the head of Co.Rd. 637.

The ghost town of Keswick began in 1872 when Rev. John Lawrence of New Brunswick, Canada settled near the site. At its peak, its population was 200, but had dropped to 40 by 1910. Only Keswick Methodist Church remains today between Bingham and Suttons Bay on Co.Rd. 633 (Old M-22).

Originally called Pegtown, Maple City has a white steepled church on the hill just east of the town. It has been the home of two denominations. Built about 1890, it was a Friends' Church until 1916 when it became St. Rita's Catholic Church. St. Joseph Catholic Church, located near the intersection of Neweskal Rd. and Co.Rd. 669, is a white steepled church that consolidated with St. Rita's in Maple City. Although Mass is no longer offered up there, it is still available for weddings and other church gatherings.

There are two other churches in Elmwood Township. One is West Bay Covenant Church at the corner of Cherry Bend Rd. and M-22. It was built in 1958, and an addition built in 1972. The other, Praise West Church, holds Sunday services in Elmwood Township Hall. It is independent Lutheran.

A Jewish settlement was located across the Narrows from Provemont (Lake Leelanau) in its early days, and its residents worked cutting timbers for the Great Lakes boats. A Jewish cemetery is located on a farm once owned by Philip Drow, but the headstones are probably no longer standing.

There are numerous other churches in Leelanau County, and the author apologizes for the ones not mentioned. However, if anyone has materials for research on a possible future article about these churches, the author would be interested.

~ Thomas Baird