| "The view from the hills on either entrance to the valley is beautiful in the extreme, and many there are of widely traveled folk, who style it the loveliest scene their eyes have ever looked upon…the real farmer finds his greatest opportunity here; the city dweller, the business man of affairs in search of the ideal country home, need look no further than the Empire territory to find what they have dreamed of, as the place to work out to a successful issue their plans for back-to-the-land." — West Michigan Pike, 1914 |
| Empire
Est. 1864
Empire is located on the western shore of the Leelanau peninsula, 25 miles west of Traverse City and 27 miles southwest of Leland. It is in the heart of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and the home of the park's Visitor Center.
"The Indians have one story explaining Sleeping Bear and the geologists have another. The Indians say that in the long ago a mother bear and her two cubs, fleeing from a forest fire in Wisconsin, swam across the big lake to the Michigan side. The mother reached shore first and dragged herself wearily up the steep bluff where she lay down to wait for the cubs. But the cubs became exhausted and sank with safety in sight. The mother bear lay there grieving, watching the spot where the cubs drowned. The Great Spirit Manitou in mercy turned the cubs into islands—the present North and South Manitous—and covered the mother bear gently with sand, thus forming the dune that gives the region its name.
The story of the geologists is more prosaic but nonetheless strange. They say that the glaciers laid down the great moronic ridge that is the base of the plateau—a ridge of sand mixed with pebbles, boulders, and gravel. The prevailing southwest winds in the course of centuries blew away the top of this ridge for a mile back from the shore until it is now a flat-topped plateau with an average elevation of 400 or more feet above Lake Michigan." - Stace, Michigan's Mystic Dunes, 1939, referenced in "Vintage Views of Leelanau County"
What's Best?
A morning hike up Alligator Hill—breathtaking views of Lake Michigan and the islands. The beaches of North Bar Lake.
Where to Meet Locals?
10am at the post office. At Tiffany's Ice Cream & Cookies. Anchor Days in July. At the Friendly Tavern.
About the School District
Glen Lake Community Schools is a Class C, K-12 school with 950 students. The district covers 200 square miles of southwestern Leelanau County including the towns of Empire, Glen Arbor, Cedar, and Maple City.
Historical Sketch
In 1864, the first European settler John LaRue, moved south from Glen Arbor to settle in Empire near Otter Creek. The Stormer and Aylesworth families soon followed, and the new community soon had a wooding station, store, church, school, and large steamers and schooners dropping off settlers at the dock. The side-wheeler steamer Empire went aground nearby in 1849, and when the schooner Empire was icebound offshore in the winter of 1865, the village name was firmly affixed.
Click for a map of Empire
Empire Events (from the Leelanau Calendar)
12/28/07 - A Course in Miracles- Study Group
05/06/08 - Manitou Music Festival Posters on Display
07/02/08 - SURF LESSONS
07/16/08 - Green Cuisine 2008
07/16/08 - Green Cuisine
07/15/09 - Green Cuisine
Empire Photos
Empire Links
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