Petoskey’s namesake: the story behind Chief Ignatius Petoskey and his bronze statue overlooking Little Traverse Bay in Quarry Park

PETOSKEY, Mich. — The city on Little Traverse Bay takes its name from Ignatius Petoskey, an Odawa leader and merchant, and a bronze statue in a small downtown park honors him.

The man. Ignatius Petoskey, also known as Pet-o-sega, was born in 1787 to a French fur trader and an Odawa mother, according to the Petoskey Area Visitors Bureau and Northern Michigan History. His name is loosely translated as “rising sun.” He became a chief and a businessman in the region and died in 1885.

The name. The settlement once known as Bear River was renamed Petoskey in 1873 in his honor, with the spelling altered from his name, according to those sources.

The statue. In 2005, the City Council authorized installing a statue honoring Ignatius Petoskey in Quarry Park, a gift from a former Petoskey resident, according to the city. The sculpture is by Pietro Vinotti.

The park. Quarry Park is a 2.5-acre former limestone quarry turned green space at the edge of downtown, fronting U.S. 31, Lewis Street and Rose Street east of Howard Street, the city says. It sits next to Arlington Park, near Stafford’s Perry Hotel, with bluff-top views of Little Traverse Bay. The Petoskey visitors bureau lists the statue’s address as 100 Lewis St.

Visiting. The park is free and open year-round, and it is a short walk from the Gaslight District’s shops. Emmet County’s Camp Petosega, a county park on Pickerel Lake, also carries his name.

Sources:
City of Petoskey, “Quarry Park” (2005 council authorization, gift, park description), https://www.petoskey.us/services/parks___recreation/parks/quarry_park.php
Petoskey Area Visitors Bureau, “Chief Petosega Sculpture” (2005, background, address), https://petoskeyarea.com/places/chief-petosega-sculpture/
Northern Michigan History, “Honoring Chief Ignatius Petoskey” (birth, name, 1873 renaming), https://northernmichiganhistory.com/honoring-chief-ignatius-petoskey/
Emmet County, “About Camp Petosega,” https://www.emmetcounty.org/experiences/camp_petosega/about_camp_petosega.php
Petoskey Area Visitors Bureau, “Petoskey Stone” (Bear River renaming), https://petoskeyarea.com/media/petoskey-stone/
Photo: MSwierenga, “Chief Ignatius Petoskey sculpture by Pietro Vinotti.jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, CC0, cropped and color-adjusted, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chief_Ignatius_Petoskey_sculpture_by_Pietro_Vinotti.jpg

Petoskey

Tags: Petoskey · History · Public Art · Odawa · Things to Do