PETOSKEY

resort city, seat (1853) of Emmet county, northwestern Michigan, U.S., on Little Traverse Bay of Lake Michigan, 67 miles (108 km) northeast of Traverse City. Settled in 1852 and named for the Ottawa chief Pet-o-sega, it was the site of St. Francis Solanus Indian Mission (1859), which still stands. Originally a lumber town, it has turned to tourism and small manufacturing. Fine ski areas are nearby. The local beaches and gravel pits are searched by rock hounds for colourful and unusual fossilized stones, one of which-the Petoskey Stone-was adopted in 1965 as the official state stone. North Central Michigan (junior) College (1958) is located in the city. Inc. village, 1879; city, 1896. Pop. (1990) 6,056.